site.btaTripartite Cooperation Council to Discuss 2025 Minimum Wage

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation Friday will discuss the government's proposal to set the minimum wage for 2025 at BGN 1,077, up from BGN 933 now. Thus the minimum wage will be 15.4% higher than in January 2024.

The caretaker Labour and Social Policy Minister noted in his report that this wage would raise the motivation of the lowest income segment of the labour force to seek work, enter and stay in the labour market. The increase will also raise living standards, reduce the risk of in-work poverty and income inequality, and boost domestic demand.

Under the Labour Code, the minimum wage for the next year is 50% of the average gross wage over a 12-month period which includes the last two quarters of the previous year and the first two quarters of the current year.

In late September, the Council of Ministers set the poverty line for 2025 at BGN 638, a 21.3% increase of BGN 112 from 2024. The decision was made at a meeting of the government, employers and trade unions on September 16.