10 minutes agoWhat are the minimum salaries in the EU, and how many in the region?
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)The highest minimum wage among EU countries is in Luxembourg with 2,257 euros, followed by Ireland with 1,775, the Netherlands 1,725 and Belgium with 1.658 euros. In the countries of the region, which are not part of the EU, the lowest minimum wage is in Kosovo 170 euros, while slightly better stands [...]
As of January 1st 2022, 21 of the 27 EU member states have minimum national salaries, making exceptions to Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden. Given their euro levels, 21 member states could be divided into three main groups.
In January 2022, 13 member states, located in the east and south of the EU, had minimum salaries below 1,000 euros a month: Bulgaria (332), Latvia (500), Romania (515), Hungary (542), Croatia (624), Slovakia (646), Czechia (652), Estonia (654), Poland (655), Lithuania (730), Greece (774), Malta (792), and Portugal (823).
In Slovenia (1.074 euros) and Spain (1.126 euros) minimum wages ranged slightly over 1,000 euros per month, while in the remaining six member states, minimum wages were over 1,500 euros per month: France (1.603), Germany (1.621), Belgium (1.658), the Netherlands (1.725), Ireland (1.775) and Luxembourg (2.257).
By comparison, the minimum federal wage in the United States was 1,110 euros in January 2022.
This information comes from the data for minimum wage published by Eurostat.
In the group of 21 member states in the analysis, the minimum higher wage was almost 7 times higher than that.
However, inequality is markedly smaller after price-level differences are taken into account. When expressed in the purchasing power standard (PPS), minimum salaries in member states at lower prices become relatively higher compared to those in member states at higher prices.
Eliminating price differences, minimum wages ranged from 604 PPS a month in Bulgaria at 1,707 PPS in Luxembourg, which means that the minimum higher wage was almost three times higher than the lowest. Based on this, two main groups can be identified: group 1 with minimum national salary over 1,000 PPS and Group 2 with minimum national wage below 1,000 PPS.
Group 1 includes Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, Poland and Lithuania. Their minimum national salaries ranged from 1,038 PPS in Lithuania up to 1,707 PPS in Luxembourg. While Romania, Portugal, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Czechia, Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia and Bulgaria are part of group 2.
The national minimum wages for this group ranged from 604 PPS in Bulgaria to 949 PPS in Romania.
All candidate and potential candidates with a minimum national wage belong to Group 2, with minimum wage levels ranging from PPS 401 in Albania to PPS 888 in Montenegro. The United States (PPS 920) belongs to group 2. Kosovo is not included in the Eurostat report.
Of the countries in the region, Montenegro has minimum wages of 533 euros, Serbia 401, Northern Macedonia 359, Bosnia and Herzegovina 300 (275 for the Federation of Bosnia and 300 for Republika Srpska, Albania 248 and Kosovo 170 euros.
Otherwise, Kosovo's government has proposed that the minimum wage increase be at 264 euros, but trade unions have expressed disappointment, saying it should be larger, even demanding an additional 100 euros until the adoption of the wage law, threatening strikes in case of not meeting the requirements.
