site.btaBulgaria's Minimum Wage 4.8 Times below EU's Highest, Down from 17 in 2007

As of January 1, 2025, ten EU Member States had a minimum wage under EUR 1,000. Bulgaria had the lowest minimum wage in the European Union at EUR 551, while Luxembourg had the highest at EUR 2,638, according to the latest Eurostat data released on Thursday.  

Luxembourg’s minimum wage was 4.8 times higher than Bulgaria’s. By comparison, in 2007 – the year Bulgaria joined the European Union - this difference was 17 times. At the time, Belgium had the highest minimum wage among the Member States that had a national minimum wage, at EUR 1,259, while Bulgaria’s was EUR 92.

As of January 1, 22 of the 27 EU Member States have national minimum wages in place, Eurostat added. Ten of these, including Bulgaria, had minimum wages below EUR 1,000 per month: Hungary (EUR 707), Latvia (EUR 740), Romania (EUR 814), Slovakia (EUR 816), the Czech Republic (EUR 826), Estonia (EUR 886), Malta (EUR 961), Greece (EUR 968), and Croatia (EUR 970).

In six others, minimum wages ranged from EUR 1,000 to EUR 1,500 per month: Cyprus (EUR 1,000), Portugal (EUR 1,015), Lithuania (EUR 1,038), Poland (EUR 1,091), Slovenia (EUR 1,278), and Spain (EUR 1,381).

In the remaining six, minimum wages were above EUR 1,500 per month: France (EUR 1,802), Belgium (EUR 2,070), Germany (EUR 2,161), the Netherlands (EUR 2,193), Ireland (EUR 2,282), and Luxembourg (EUR 2,638).

The disparities in minimum wages across Member States are considerably smaller once price level differences are taken into account. 

When expressed in purchasing power standard (PPS), minimum wages in EU Member States with lower price levels become higher compared with those with higher price levels.

After adjusting for price differences across countries, minimum wages ranged from 878 PPS per month in Estonia to 1,992 PPS in Germany, meaning that the highest minimum wage was 2.3 times the lowest.

If measured in relative terms, as a proportion of the median earnings, in 2022, minimum wages represented over 60% of the median gross monthly earnings in three EU Member States: France, Portugal, and Slovenia (66% in all countries).

In Bulgaria, the minimum wage in 2022 represented 54% of the country’s median earnings.

Minimum wages were less than half of the median earnings in four countries: Belgium (49%), Malta (46%), Estonia (43%), and Latvia (43%).