Politicians play a crucial role in the day-to-day running of a country. But how much a typical politician gets paid varies drastically depending on where they live, with some only just about making five figures a year from their basic salaries. 

Read on to discover politicians' annual salaries in 31 major countries around the globe. All dollar amounts in US dollars, unless otherwise stated. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian members of parliament took a 30% pay cut, reducing their monthly wages from 100,000 rupees ($1,260/£1,090) to 70,000 rupees ($880/£765).

Enacted through an amendment, the revised salary lasted for one year from April 2020.

With an annual salary of $15,120 (£13,080), politicians in India come in at the bottom of our list. However, with constituency allowances and perks, they could actually receive almost double that amount.

Select members of the Chinese government, including President Xi Jinping, were given a 62% pay rise in 2015, bringing their monthly earnings to 11,385 yuan ($1,635/£1,415) across the board.

This marked the first politicians' salary increase since 2006. At the time, it was announced that more regular pay increases would continue, with the previously low pay criticised for encouraging corruption among government officials. 

However, with ongoing lockdowns having a significant impact on the Chinese economy's growth, many cities are now opting to reduce wages for public servants once more.

While Swiss politicians aren't the lowest paid in Europe, they do have the lowest base salary.

Members of the Swiss parliament receive only 26,000 Swiss francs a year, which equates to around $27,000 (£23,400).

However, this is supplemented by a $460 (£395) daily allowance for attending council and committees, and a further $34,350 (£29,700) is available for expenses.

With that in mind, the government says council members can earn between 130,000 and 150,000 Swiss francs ($135,300 to $156,125) in total each year. 

Mustafa Şentop, Speaker of the Turkish parliament, made headlines in 2019 when he claimed that politicians have trouble making ends meet due to their high expenses and low salary, which was around 10 times higher than the minimum wage at the time. 

As of October 2020, politicians have a monthly salary of 25,000 liras ($1,357/£1,250). 

With high rates of inflation plaguing the country and the lira losing value against the dollar, the Turkish government has already raised the minimum wage twice this year. This works out to around 66,000 lira ($3,615/£3,130) annually and is significantly less than what politicians make.

In August 2020, Polish lawmakers voted to give themselves a 60% pay rise, which many critics considered to be bad timing due to the pandemic and its economic impact on the country.

A year later, the president approved yet more salary increases for politicians, with some as high as 75%. This brought monthly wages to around 12,800 zloty ($2,710/£2,345) on average for parliamentary lawmakers and senators.

Local media reported that 84% of the public opposed the decision. On the flipside, however, those in favour of the decision said that politicians' salaries needed to keep pace with rising wages in Poland, which had reached an average of 5,800 zloty ($1,230/£1,060) by summer 2021.

Members of the parliamentary Hungarian National Assembly approved a pay rise for staff in 2018, which came into effect as of 2020.

As such, the base salary that politicians currently receive per month is 1,103,400 forints ($2,750/£2,380).

Those who hold positions on committees or serve in leadership roles stand to make even higher annual salaries on top of the $33,000 (£28,560) base. 

Contrary to many other politicians around the world, Spain's lawmakers take home an annual salary that's very similar to the national average of €32,520 ($32,530/£28,140).

Politicians make just a fraction more, earning around €36,600 ($36,610/£31,670) a year. There's also money available to cover expenses, which can vary according to how far away a constituency is located from capital Madrid. 

It's a different story in neighbouring Portugal.

There, the starting salary for lawmakers in the Assembly of the Republic is €43,490 ($43,485/£37,635) a year, which is 32% more than the country's average annual salary of €32,900 ($30,298/£29,359).

Given a 10% raise, parliamentary politicians and Senators in the Czech Republic saw their salaries jump up to 90,800 koruna ($3,710/£3,210) a month in 2020.

That was expected to increase by another 6% until Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called for a five-year freeze on politicians' wages in the lead-up to the 2021 elections. 

Despite approval from the lower house, the Senate ultimately voted down the measure, meaning the minimum salary is likely to make that 6% jump this year after all, reaching a total of 96,250 koruna ($3,930/£3,400) per month.

Having last received a salary increase in 2019, politicians in South Africa were given a 2.8% bump in pay this summer. This comes as the country faces increasing costs and growing inflation.

When faced with criticism over the increases, Parliament's spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said politicians are not earning nearly as much as their counterparts in countries with similar GDPs, although local media has since debunked this claim.

As of June 2022, South Africa's lawmakers make 1,172,071 rand per year, which equates to $67,110 (£57,995). This figure increases slightly for politicians who are in leadership roles. 

Members of Kenya's National Assembly can earn as much as 710,000 Kenyan shillings ($5,900/£5,100) a month, pre-taxes. 

This monthly income breaks down to a base pay of around $3,540 (£3,060), with a $1,245 (£1,075) housing allowance, and $1,110 (£960) for salary market adjustment, which is used to keep pay competitive for public sector workers.

There are also additional allowances available for travel costs and committee activities.

Lawmakers in Finland's parliament receive €6,614 ($6,614/£5,710) a month, which rises to €6,945 ($6945/£5,995) after four years of service, and then €7,408 ($7,408/£6,395) after 12 years.

Supplemental fees are paid to committee chairs and other leadership roles. There's also a range of compensation available to cover expenses but the amount available varies according to how far a politician lives from Helsinki.

Salaries are decided by a three-person Remuneration Committee, none of whom can be a lawmaker or a parliamentary civil servant. 

Swedish politicians earn a basic wage of SEK 71,500 ($6,700/£5,780) a month, which works out to around $80,400 (£69,360) a year.

There is additional income available for members who do additional work for the government. For example, those who are involved as chairs on committees can receive an incremental increase of up to 20%. 

French politicians make €86,504 ($86,525/£74,745) per year, which includes a basic allowance and is on par with many of its neighbours around Western Europe.

Despite this similarity, it's still more than double France's average annual wage, which clocks in at €39,300 ($39,300/£33,965).

Belgian politicians' salaries can vary, with the basic annual salary reported to be €91,645 ($91,630/£79,200) in 2021.

And it's not just Euros that are accepted as payment. At the start of 2022, Belgian politician Christophe de Beukelaer announced he would be receiving his salary in Bitcoin each month, following the lead of New York's mayor Eric Adams.

Dutch politicians receive a basic allowance of €7,705 ($7,700/£6,675) a month, which works out at $92,400 (£80,100) a year.

The figure is notably more than the national annual average salary of $61,734 (£53,660).

Pay varies for Russian government officials, though the typical salary was around 470,000 rubles ($7,870/£6,800) per month in 2021.

Earlier this year, Mikhail Delyagin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, proposed reducing politicians' salaries to be more in keeping with the national average wage, which is around 56,500 rubles ($945/£820) a month. The idea has received mixed support from other lawmakers.

Danish politicians receive a basic starting salary of 704,069 krone ($94,450/£81,980) per year.

According to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this is significantly more than the country's national average salary of $62,054 (£53,865).

Members of the UK's ruling parliament received a pay rise earlier in 2022, meaning they now earn an additional $2,550 (£2,212) per year. This followed a pay freeze during the pandemic.

As of April 2022, a politician in the UK's parliament has a basic annual starting salary of $96,935 (£84,144).

During the pandemic, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she and the nation's politicians would be taking a 20% pay cut in solidarity with those working on the front line, as well as those who had lost their livelihoods due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

The lowest-ranking politicians in New Zealand's parliament now make NZ$163,961 ($98,164/£85,300) per year.

Members of parliament in Ireland take home a basic annual salary of €101,193 ($101,090/£87,680), which makes their pay slightly higher than that of their UK neighbours.

Irish politicians in positions of authority are entitled to an additional salaried allowance, but this depends on their role. 

Austria's parliamentarians receive a uniform salary of €8,755.80 ($8,745/£7,600) per month.

They're also allowed to claim for a further monthly allowance to pay for up to two assistants.

The highest-paid politicians in all of Scandinavia, Norwegian politicians make 1,064,318 krone ($105,485/£91,615) per annum.

Pay rises for members of Norway's parliament, or Storting, had been put on hold during the pandemic, but as of spring 2022 they've been earning an additional $7,647 (£6,647) per year compared to their 2019 compensation. 

German politicians earn €10,012.89 ($10,010/£8,690) a month, making them some of the highest paid lawmakers in Europe.

The hefty wage is high to ensure that politicians are independent, although they did take their first-ever pay cut in July 2021.

As of 2014, politicians' earnings have been tied to the German monthly average, which dropped by 0.7% in 2020 due to the economic impact of the pandemic.

Earning a base salary of AU$211,250 ($142,445/£123,815) a year, Australian politicians are among the best paid in the world.

Between 2016 and 2019, they enjoyed an annual pay rise of 2%. However, with the economic impact of the pandemic still being felt, the government has not increased politicians' salaries since 2019.

A member of the House of Commons of Canada will receive a base salary of CA$189,500 ($143,995/£125,060). 

Parliamentary politicians risk losing CA$120 ($90/£80) per day if they miss more than 21 days in session for reasons other than illness, pregnancy, parental leave, or serving in the armed forces. 

While ranking high on this list due to their $174,000 (£151,280) annual salaries, members of the US Congress have technically seen their earnings stagnate over the last decade.

Since 2010, the US Congress has annually voted against a pay increase, meaning that members' salaries have remained the same since 2009.

Had the politicians' yearly salary increased to keep pace with inflation, it'd be $240,209 (£208,850) today.

Politicians in Japan's National Diet reportedly earn 1.3 million yen per month ($9,063/£7,876), with juicy bonuses also available.

On top of this, there's also a one million yen ($6,970/£6,060) monthly allowance available to cover the costs of correspondence.

Critics have called this a "second salary" because politicians aren't actually required to submit receipts to show how the untaxed money is spent. 

Italian politicians have long been famed for their high salaries, and their current yearly pay of €209,693 ($209,470/£182,020) is significantly more than the country's average annual salary of $41,438 (£35,980).

On top of their basic income, the six-figure salary that the politicians receive includes an €84,000 ($81.4k/£75k) allowance.

However, 2019 saw Italy's parliament vote to cut the number of politicians in its parliament from 630 to 400, as well as the number of senators from 315 to 200. It's been estimated that this will save the country around €1 billion ($1bn/£870m) over the next decade. 

Senators in Nigeria's National Assembly receive an annual salary of nine million naira, which is a fraction over $20,600 (£19,250).

However, local media reported in 2020 that lawmakers actually receive an additional 162.9 million naira ($373k/£343k) to cover a wide array of expenses, including clothes, cars, newspapers, and even furniture.

With this guaranteed allowance on top, the typical Nigerian senator's salary quickly becomes one of the best in the political world. 

This is despite the fact that as many as 40% of the country's citizens live well below the poverty line, according to a report conducted by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank.

The starting salary for Singapore's lawmakers is S$935,000 ($664,030/£577,920), which officially makes them the best-paid politicians in the world.

The controversially high salaries have been subject to criticism, but the government has always maintained that it needs to pay its politicians well in order to attract people of the highest calibre.

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