The wage gap in the Netherlands between executives and other members of staff continues to widen overall, but has shrunk in financial services, according to a new review of the Dutch labour market.

The report says the biggest wage gap is now found in the IT and communications sector. That means at telecom companies, IT firms, broadcasters and publishers, directors earn an average of 12.7 times average company pay. The financial sector pay gap is 9.6.

The figures, compiled by national statistics office CBS, are based on gross pay, including bonuses, of a company’s five best paid members of staff across 1,000 of the Netherlands’ biggest companies.

Overall, the pay gap widened from 5.5 times average salary to 6.1 last year, the CBS said. The 5,000 top earners had an average gross salary of €272,000 while the average pay for all workers hit just €50,000.

Executive pay has risen 32% over the past five years but ordinary members of staff have seen their pay cheques increase by 13%.

The gap is smaller – 4.6 times the average salary – when net income is taken into account, due to high income tax rates starting at a relatively low level of €67,000.

The smallest wage gaps are in the education sector, at just over 2, and in healthcare, where the difference is just 3.7.