Bulgaria and Romania have lowest minimum wages in EU

The gross minimum wage expressed in euro has doubled in Bulgaria and Romania in the last nine years but the two Eastern European countries still had by far the lowest minimum wages in the European Union on January 1, 2017. The minimum wage in Bulgaria was EUR 235 per month, up by 109% compared to January 1, 2008. In Romania, the minimum wage was EUR 275 per month, up 99%, according to data released by EU’s statistical office Eurostat on Friday. In local currency (RON), the minimum wage in Romania has increased by 150% in nine years. 22 out of the 28 EU member states had national minimum wages, unlike Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland, and Sweden, where the minimum wage doesn’t exist. The 22 EU member states with a minimum wage established by law can be divided into three main groups. The first group comprises ten EU member states from the eastern bloc, including Romania, where the minimum wage is below EUR 500 per month. Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland are also in this group, but the minimum wages in these countries are over EUR 400. The second group includes five member states from the south of the EU where the minimum wage amounts to EUR 500-1,000 per month. The third group comprises seven member states located in the west and north of the EU, where the minimum wage exceeds EUR 1,000 per month. The highest minimum wages in the EU were recorded in Germany (EUR 1,498), Belgium (EUR 1,532), the Netherlands (EUR 1,552), Ireland (EUR 1,563), and Luxembourg (EUR 1,999). Romania increased the gross minimum wage by 16%, to over EUR 320 (RON 1,450), starting February 1, 2017. editor@romania-insider.com