European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde earned an estimated €726,000 in total remuneration last year, more than 50% higher than the salary figure publicly disclosed by the ECB, according to an analysis by the Financial Times.

The ECB’s annual report lists Lagarde’s basic salary at €466,000. However, the FT calculated that when additional benefits and external roles are taken into account, her total compensation rises by roughly 56%. This makes her the highest-paid public official in the European Union and places her earnings at nearly four times those of US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, whose salary is capped by US law at around €173,000.

The additional income includes an estimated €135,000 in housing and related allowances, as well as roughly €125,000 earned from Lagarde’s position on the board of the Bank for International Settlements, often described as the central bank for central banks. These figures are not individually itemised in the ECB’s disclosures, and the BIS itself publishes only aggregate board remuneration.

While Lagarde’s overall pay remains modest compared to chief executives of major European corporations, the FT analysis has highlighted questions around transparency. Unlike listed companies in the EU, which are required to provide detailed and comprehensive remuneration disclosures, the ECB is not bound by the same reporting standards.

Fabio De Masi, a German MEP, criticised the level of disclosure, arguing that Europe’s most powerful monetary official should meet the highest standards of accountability. By comparison, Deutsche Bank’s chief executive publicly disclosed earnings of €9.8 million in 2024.

The ECB said Lagarde’s salary framework was set when the institution was founded in 1998 and has only been adjusted in line with staff-wide salary increases. It added that its disclosure practices are consistent with other international public institutions and have improved over time.

The Financial Times noted that its estimates do not include pension contributions, health insurance, or future transition payments, which could bring Lagarde’s total earnings over her eight-year term to as much as €6.5 million. From 2030, she is expected to receive an annual ECB pension of approximately €178,000.