According to Eurostat figures, Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage in the European Union – 1,999 euros, the lowest minimum wage is in Bulgaria – 235 euros.
Almost all countries have a minimum wage with exceptions coming from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy and Cyprus.
Eurostat said that compared with 2008, national minimum wages grew in all member-states except for Greece where the minimum wage fell 14 pct. In the period 2008-2017, minimum wages doubled in Bulgaria (109 pct) and Romania (99 pct), while significant increases were recorded in Slovakia (80 pct), Estonia (69 pct), Latvia (65 pct) and Lithuania (64 pct).
The 22 EU Member States that have national minimum wages can be divided into three main groups based on the level in euro.
In January 2017, 10 Member States, located in the east of the EU, had minimum wages below 500 euros per month:
Bulgaria (235), Romania (275), Latvia and Lithuania (both 380), the Czech Republic (407)
In five other Member States, located in the south, minimum wages were between 500 and 1,000 per month: Portugal (650), Greece (684), Malta (736), Slovenia (805) and Spain (826).
In the remaining seven Member States, all located in the west and north of the EU, minimum wages were well above 1,000 per month: the United Kingdom (1,397), France (1,480), Germany (1,498), Belgium (1,532), the Netherlands (1,552), Ireland (1,563) and Luxembourg (1,999).
For comparison, the federal minimum wage in the United States was 1,192 per month in January 2017.
