The average pay package of a top executive in a company with more than 100,000 employees is 1.35 million euros (about £1.1 million) a year.
The global study of more than 1,700 executives found Germany has the highest average executive pay package (1.4 million euros), ahead of the U.S (1.3 million euros), and the UK (1.2 million euros).
"Size of responsibility is the key driver for the remuneration of executives," said Conrad Pramboeck, head of compensation consulting at Pedersen and Partners and project manager of the survey.
"Executive compensation in the top 100-enterprises in Europe and the United States is on average seven times higher than the salary of general managers in small and medium-sized enterprises and 40 times higher than the average salary of a white-collar employee," he added.
Emerging economies rising too
The study also found executive pay is rising at a faster rate in emerging economies. Even though the average pay package is still behind those of Western Europe and the US, it is increasing by up to 10% year-on-year.
“Top earners in large enterprises in emerging markets, like China, India, or South Africa receive compensation on the level of Western countries," said Pramboeck.
"However, executive compensation is on average still below the remuneration of their counterparts in Western Europe and the United States."
