British workers' pay is still among the lowest in Europe's top 15 economies and is way behind leader Switzerland, where the average starting salary for an entry-level professional is an astonishing £66,671.

That is almost two-and-a-half times the average entry-level professional salary of £27,199 in the UK, according to the Towers Watson report.

Despite moving up the polls ahead of Spain and Italy this year, the UK still sits towards the bottom of the salary grid. The same entry-level professionals in France would get £4,000 more a year, while in Germany they would earn £16,250 more.

Is it worth it? Workers in the UK earn considerably less than those in Germany and pay leader Switzerland

Basic salaries for UK workers at both entry and middle-manager level are now ranked thirteenth and seventh, respectively, out of the top 15 European economies.

For middle-management pay, the UK ranks higher in terms of its base-salary offering than the Netherlands, Austria and Ireland, with average yearly pay in Britain for these roles put at £72,524 - a level that would easily shoot such workers into the top ten per cent of earners.

Despite the UK's improvement in middle-management pay levels, base salaries at this level in the UK are £10,000 less than in Germany and £40,000 behind Switzerland.

The pay levels identified by the report are considerably ahead of what most people in the UK earn, however.

The median UK salary according to the Office of National Statistics was £27,200 for the year to April 2014, up just 0.7 per cent on the previous year.

Once inflation was taken into account earnings fell 1.6 per cent during the period, continuing a painful trend that has seen inflation-adjusted wages fall every year since 2008.

This means that once the cost of living is taken into account earnings are at levels last seen in the early 2000s.

The ONS report revealed that for workers to get into the top 10 per cent of UK earners they need to be paid at least £1,024 a week - the equivalent of £53,248 a year.

Sliding down the scale: Average pay for an entry-level professional in the UK in 2014 is £27,199

Buying power boosts Britain, thanks to lower cost of living.

Towers Watson's report also examined how much 'buying power' employees in each country have, by taking into consideration tax burden and cost of living factors.

When these measures are taken into account, the salaries for UK employees 'look more competitive', Towers Watson says.

Taking into account these measures and due to lower taxes and cheaper living costs than in many other European countries, entry-level professionals in the UK move up to sixth place on the chart and middle-managers climb to fourth place in terms of relative wealth.

This is above France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy in both cases.

Even when taxes and the cost of living is taken into account, Swiss salaries are on average over 20 per cent higher than even the countries ranked second and third on the pay leagues, including Denmark and Luxembourg, the report said.

Darryl Davis, of Towers Watson said: 'While our latest gross salary data does show some positive movement for the UK, on the European level there still remains a considerable gap in gross salary terms between it and the Continent's highest wage markets.

'For the economy as a whole, though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it means UK wages are able to grow in a healthy way while remaining competitive in cost terms versus other Western European economies'.

For entry-level professionals, Spain and Italy, whose economies continue to struggle, offer the lowest base salaries, at £26,197 and £26,078 respectively.

Those at middle-management level may think twice before accepting a job offer in Finland and Spain, with base salaries at the bottom of the pay-league at £60,296 and £58,449 respectively.