The base salaries of CFOs across most European countries have increased by more than 15% on average (in US dollar terms).according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting's latest Global Pay Summary 2004/2005. The head of finance and accounting or the head of sales and marketing are usually the highest paid heads of a function in an individual country, but in several countries - including the UK and Hong Kong - the head of information technology is the best paid function head. While there has been a relative increase in European executive pay, this can be partly attributed to the depreciation of the US dollar. Salaries of Swiss executives when converted into US dollars rose nearly 10% in 2004 solely as a result of the Swiss franc's appreciation. Salaries in the Euro zone rose by 9% last year due to changes in exchange rates.
The strong European currencies accounted for some of the rise in pay, but not all of it. The annual base salary (converted into US dollars) of heads of finance and accounting in the UK rose by far more than the appreciation of the British pound in 2004.