According to data on Personal and Family Income Statistics prepared for the first time by the EUSTAT in collaboration with the Provincial Councils of the three Provinces, in 1997 the average personal income in Alava was 10,037 euros, 9,981 euros in Gipuzkoa and 9,975 in Bizkaia.

We should stress the importance of earnings from work in the composition of total income. The latter is the result of the aggregation of income from work, from activity and from capital, both property capital or financial capital.

In 1997, the origin of around 86% of total generated income was earnings from work, with an average of 8,473 euros. The rest is divided, practically equally, between income from activity, 7.5% and an average of 737 euros, and capital income, the remaining 6.6% with an average of 654 euros.

The distribution of income between the population is quite disparate. Thus, almost 16% of the population, i.e., almost one in every six inhabitants, did not compute income during 1997, the figure rising to 61% for persons who, either did not receive any kind of income, or received below the average of 9,888 euros for the Community. Only 10% of the population obtained income over 24,000 € per annum (see graph 1).

The median is a very representative indicator of the way in which income is distributed among the population, as it expresses that amount of income that divides the population in two equal parts, above and below the middle value. In 1997 this indicator had a value of 6,262 euros. In other words, 50% of the population obtained total income over that amount, while the other half was below.

Comparative differences by sex are significant. In terms of average income, males in the A.C. of the Basque Country obtained a total income of 13,882 euros, an amount which is twice as great as that corresponding to females, 6,122 euros.

In relation to distribution, there was a greater concentration of women than men in the strata situated below their respective averages. While 58% of males obtained income equal to or lower than the aforementioned 13,.882 euros, in the case of females this percentage went up to 68%, in relation to the average of 6,122 euros. This difference is due, to a large extent, to a higher proportion of women who do not receive income at all, 19.4%, in comparison with 12% men.

The composition of total income presents differential characteristics by sex, not so much with regard to income from work as from other types of income, from activity and capital. In the case of males, income from activity, 1,130 euros on average, represented 9.2% of total income, 1.5% being higher than that derived from capital, 607 euros. Income from capital obtained by women, in addition to exceeding that of men, 699 euros on average and 11.5% of the total of their income, is almost double that derived from activity, 366 euros and 6%.

Another highly influential variable in the determination of personal income is age. The highest total personal income is obtained between the age of 45 and 49, with an average of 14,521 euros. For income solely from work in the case of women, the maximum occurs 10 years earlier, between the ages of 35 and 39. On the other hand, the upper limit in activity is obtained between 40 and 44 years of age for both sexes.

In addition, income from capital progresses without break from the age of 18, with an average income of 82 euros, up to the final ages, marking the maximum between the ages of 75 and 79, with an average of 1,413 euros. Therefore, the participation of income from capital in the determination of total income acquires a growing relevance as age increases: 3.2%, which represents the proportion of income from capital in total income for those aged 18, becomes 20.8% for the last age group of those aged, 85 and over.

Taking into consideration the level of education, higher income is registered, in the following order, among those with higher studies, 15,755 euros, medium higher, 14,785, professional 11,276 euros and medium 9,576 euros. Below the average are the illiterate, without studies or with primary studies (4,687, 6,738 and 8,039 euros, respectively).

For the employed the average income was 17.353 euros, mostly from income from employment, 16,162 euros. Technical, scientific and intellectual professionals are favoured most, with an income of 24,196 euros, followed by company and administration managers, with 22,727 euros. On the opposite extreme are unqualified workers, 12,513 euros, and workers in catering, personal services and sales personnel, 11,956 euros.

According to the professional situation, businessmen and women obtained the highest income, 21,941 euros, followed closely by salaried and cooperative workers, 20,917 and 19,347 euros, respectively. Temporary workers -12,002 euros, self-employed, -10,420 euros, in the latter case mostly obtained income from activity, and family subsidies, -7.820 euros, complete the classification.

The geographic detail enables some precision to be established on the distribution of income. At a municipal level differences may be seen between the 250 towns and villages. Only 68 municipalities have a total personal income above the average of the Community, leaving the remaining 182 are below 9,888 euros. In addition, the gap between the municipality with highest personal income, Laukiz, with 17,480 euros, and the lowest, Lanestosa, with 6,222, is over 11,000 euros.

Finally, in 1997 average family income, obtained as a result of aggregating the different individual income by the family members, was 25,357 euros, 2.6 times personal income. Almost 2% of families did not receive any income, while 60.6% received below the average, an almost identical proportion to the case of individual income.