Romania’s minimum wage remains among EU’s lowest despite steady increases

Romania continues to rank among the European Union countries with the lowest gross minimum wages, standing at EUR 604 (approximately RON 3,000) in the second half of 2023 and set to rise to EUR 743 (around RON 3,700) in the second half of 2024, according to the latest edition of Monitorul Social, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania.

Under a government decision adopted in November 2024, Romania’s gross minimum wage will increase to RON 4,050 per month from RON 3,700 starting 1 January 2025. The net minimum wage - after deductions - will rise to RON 2,575 (EUR 515) per month, marking a RON 212 increase compared to end-2024.

Romania has seen the highest average annual increase in minimum wages in the EU over the past decade, at 13.7% per year, followed by Lithuania (12.3%) and Bulgaria (10.6%).

As of July 2024, Romania joined the group of Central and South-Eastern European countries with gross minimum wages of around EUR 1,000 (approximately RON 5,000), according to Eurostat data.

Despite these increases, Romania still lags behind other Central and Eastern European countries, such as Croatia (EUR 840), Estonia (EUR 820), Lithuania (EUR 924), Poland (EUR 997) and Slovenia (EUR 1,253).

Western European countries, including Luxembourg (EUR 2,570), the Netherlands (EUR 2,134), Ireland (EUR 2,146), Belgium (EUR 2,070), and Germany (EUR 2,054), continue to report the highest gross minimum wages in the EU.

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