In Estonia women earn almost 30 percent less than men and in Austria 23 percent.
Meanwhile, German women take home just over one-fifth less than men, or 21.6 percent, the German government said in response to a parliamentary question seen by the Funke group of newspapers.
Germany is still "far removed from the two genders being equal," Sabine Zimmermann, Linke [Left] deputy party leader in the Bundestag (German parliament) told Funke reporters.
While more women are in work compared with a few years ago, "most can't live on their low salaries and are totally unable to build up sufficient pension rights," Zimmermann said.
Women have a "mostly indirect disadvantage" compared with men when it comes to their salaries, the report found.
Compared with male colleagues, women have fewer job opportunities, a smaller income and fewer openings for support and for climbing the career ladder.
And things haven't improved with time: the level of the gender pay gap has remained stubbornly at the same level for years.
While many women do different types of work than men, including part-time work, short-term contracts or temporary work, that doesn't fully explain the gap.
Controlling for different forms of employment reveals that women still earn on average seven percent less than men, the report found.
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