Gross monthly minimum wages in the EU
Topic: Work and income
The minimum wage in Luxembourg is 4.5 times that in Bulgaria.
On 1 July 2026, 22 of the 27 EU countries had a statutory minimum wage. The amounts are gross, before income tax and social contributions.
- Figures for:
- 1 July 2026.
- Covers:
- one day.
- New data:
- twice a year.
- Dataset updated:
- 31 July 2026.
Published 28 October 2026, updated 6 November 2026
The ranking
On 1 July 2026, the gross monthly minimum wage was highest in Luxembourg, at EUR 2,771, and lowest in Bulgaria, at EUR 620.
Gross monthly minimum wage, euro per month
1 July 2026In euro and in purchasing power (PPS)
Adjusted for price levels, in purchasing power standards (PPS), the spread across countries was much narrower. Germany was the highest, at PPS 2,164, and Estonia the lowest, at PPS 935. The highest, in Germany, was 2.3 times the lowest, in Estonia.
Gross monthly minimum wage: in euro and in purchasing power (PPS)
1 July 2026(PPS)
The PPS is an artificial currency that removes differences in price levels. In theory, one PPS buys the same goods and services in every country. In Bulgaria, EUR 620 was worth PPS 993, 1.60 times the euro amount. In Luxembourg, EUR 2,771 was worth PPS 2,108, 0.76 times. Above 1, prices are lower than the EU average, below 1 they are higher. Ranked by purchasing power, the order differs from the euro ranking. Romania moves up from 20th to 12th, Estonia drops from 16th to 22nd.
| In euro | In purchasing power (PPS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | EUR 620Bulgaria | PPS 935Estonia |
| Highest | EUR 2,771Luxembourg | PPS 2,164Germany |
| Highest ÷ lowest | 4.5× | 2.3× |
About the data
The minimum wage set by law in each country, as a gross monthly amount, before income tax and the employee's social contributions. Eurostat records it twice a year, on 1 January and 1 July. Where a year has 14 monthly payments (Greece, Spain, Portugal), the monthly value is the monthly amount × 14 ÷ 12.
Eurostat: “Minimum wages are generally presented as monthly wage rates for gross earnings.” (source)
Each Member State reports its national minimum wage to Eurostat in its own currency. Eurostat turns hourly and weekly rates into monthly amounts with factors the countries supply. It converts the amounts into euro and into purchasing power standards (PPS).
How to read these numbers
Outside the indicator
Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden have no statutory minimum wage. Wages there are set by sectoral collective agreements. These countries are outside the indicator, not missing data.
Exchange rates
Values for countries outside the euro area are converted to euro at the exchange rate of the end of the previous month, so a change in euro can be an exchange-rate effect, even when the amount in national currency did not change.
Estimates
The 2026 PPS values are estimates (flag e). Eurostat used the purchasing power parities of the latest available year. This concerns every country (1 July 2026).
Sources and data
Eurostat, Monthly minimum wages - bi-annual data (earn_mw_cur). Data updated 31 July 2026, retrieved 3 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Eurostat metadata · Eurostat methodology
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/earn_mw_cur?format=JSON&lang=en¤cy=EUR&freq=S&geo=AT&geo=BE&geo=BG&geo=CY&geo=CZ&geo=DE&geo=DK&geo=EE&geo=EL&geo=ES&geo=FI&geo=FR&geo=HR&geo=HU&geo=IE&geo=IT&geo=LT&geo=LU&geo=LV&geo=MT&geo=NL&geo=PL&geo=PT&geo=RO&geo=SE&geo=SI&geo=SKRelated stories
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Income of the richest fifth against the poorest in the EU
In Bulgaria, the richest fifth received 6.94 times as much income as the poorest fifth, against 3.25 times in Belgium (2025)
-
The richest tenth's share of income in the EU
The richest tenth received 29.3% of all equivalised disposable income in Bulgaria, against 19.0% in Slovakia (2025)
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Young people neither working nor learning in the EU
In Romania, 19.2% of young people aged 15 to 29 are neither in employment nor in education or training, against 5.3% in the Netherlands (2025)
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How many years people in the EU can expect to work
A 15-year-old in the Netherlands can expect 44.0 years of working life, against 32.7 years in Romania (2025)