Here Are the Results of the 2025 Bunker Salary Survey

• Average salary of respondents gained 13.3% last year
• The Middle East's average salary fell, while Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America all saw gains
• Average total compensation including bonuses rose by 3.5% overall

The latest bunker trader salary survey from recruitment specialists Imperium Commodity Search and Ship & Bunker shows last year saw another gain in global average salaries among respondents, but a smaller rise in total compensation including bonuses.

As in previous years, Ship & Bunker has worked with Imperium to develop a picture of the salary landscape for bunker traders around the world. The information is based both on a survey respondents and data from actual job placements.

Average salaries have risen by 13.3% around the world for 2025 versus the previous survey in 2024, but a regional breakdown shows significant variations. 

The Asia-Pacific region saw an average basic compensation increase of 25.6% in 2025. European basic compensation gained 20%, North America saw a 5.5% rise and the Middle East saw a decline of 8.4%.

The decline in the Middle East may partly reflect an increase in more junior roles becoming available there, rather than salaries of existing employees being cut.

"APAC, North America and Europe have seen compensation increases and the Middle East continues to shrink," Jonathan Margrave, CEO of Imperium, told Ship & Bunker.

"As the proliferation of new Dubai firms has shrunk and existing ones struggled, the rest of the world has adjusted to compete and overtake their previous growth."

At the same time as average salaries rose, the survey showed a drop in global average bonus payments. This was also reflected in individual traders' reporting of how their own payments changed; of those responding to the survey, 27% said they received a lower bonus in 2025 than in the previous year, 51% saw little change and 22% reported a higher bonus.

That left average total compensation, combining salaries and bonuses, up by 3.5% on the year to reach a global average of $160,322 in 2025.

54% of survey respondents said their compensation was at market level in 2025, up from 46.5% the previous year. 8.5% reported compensation above market level, down from 9.5% in 2024, 29.5% reported below-market, down from 33.6% the previous year, and 8% reported compensation far below market level, down from 10.4% in 2024.

This improving perception was also reflected in views of respondents' employers. 

A total of 66% of respondents said they would either recommend or strongly recommend their employer to others in the industry, compared to 58% in 2024's survey. Just 4% said they would either not recommend or strongly recommend their firm, down from 7% the previous year, with the remainder saying they were agnostic on the issue.

This full results of the salary survey can be found here: https://shipandbunker.com/bi/salary-survey