Minimum Wages in European Union 2024

  • Significant Increases: Several European countries, including Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Poland, witnessed substantial increases in their gross minimum wages, with growth rates exceeding 30% in some cases. These notable increases indicate a proactive approach by governments to address income disparities and improve standards of living for workers.
  • Regional Variances: Despite the overall average increase in minimum wages across the European Union, there are significant regional variances in the extent of wage growth. For instance, countries like France and Germany experienced more moderate increases compared to nations such as Ireland and Belgium. These variations likely stem from differences in economic performance, labor market dynamics, and government policies.
  • Implications for Economic Stability: The upward trend in minimum wages reflects efforts to boost consumer purchasing power and stimulate economic growth. However, it also raises concerns about inflationary pressures and the cost of doing business, particularly for small enterprises. Balancing the need for higher wages with maintaining economic competitiveness will be crucial for ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth across the European Union

| Macroeconomics | 166 seen

In 2024 there were 22 out of 27 European Union member states with an official minimum wage set by the government.

Turns out this is already the tenth (#10) article about minimum wages in European Union featured on the blog. To keep it up, here is the raw data for minimum wages across European Union in 2024. 

Please don't judge too hard, data are taken from this article on Wikipedia, and applied some basic calculations for yearly growth.

 CountryGross 2024Gross 2022Change EURChange %
1Luxembourg€2,570.93€2,202.00€368.9316.75%
2Netherlands€2,300.00€1,701.00€599.0035.21%
3Germany€2,151.00€1,976.00€175.008.86%
4Ireland€2,146.30€1,775.00€371.3020.92%
5Belgium€1,994.18€1,626.00€368.1822.64%
6France€1,766.92€1,645.00€121.927.41%
7Spain€1,323.00€1,166.00€157.0013.46%
8Slovenia€1,253.36€1,074.43€178.9316.65%
9Poland€971.00€655.00€316.0048.24%
10Portugal€956.66€822.00€134.6616.38%
11Lithuania€924.00€730.00€194.0026.58%
12Greece€910.00€832.00€78.009.38%
13Cyprus€885.50 €885.50 
14Malta€854.16€822.00€32.163.91%
15Croatia€840.00€631.00€209.0033.12%
16Estonia€820.00€654.00€166.0025.38%
17Czechia€771.15€641.00€130.1520.30%
18Slovakia€750.00€646.00€104.0016.10%
19Hungary€710.00€556.00€154.0027.70%
20Latvia€700.00€500.00€200.0040.00%
21Romania€663.49€515.00€148.4928.83%
22Bulgaria€477.00€363.00€114.0031.40%
 Average EU€1,215.39€1,025.35€190.0418.53%

It should be noted: The calculations are based on the assumption of a 40-hour working week and a 52-week year, with the exceptions of France (35 hours), Belgium (38 hours), Ireland (39 hours), and Germany (39.1 hours). Most the minimum wages are fixed at a monthly rate, but there are countries where the minimum wage is fixed at an hourly rate or weekly rate.
This review provides a comprehensive overview of the changes in gross minimum wages across various European countries from 2022 to 2024. Here are some key observations:

Luxembourg: Witnessed a significant increase of €368.93, marking a substantial growth of 16.75%.
Netherlands: Experienced a notable rise of €599.00, indicating a substantial increase of 35.21%.
Germany: Demonstrated a moderate increase of €175.00, reflecting a growth rate of 8.86%.
Ireland: Saw a considerable increase of €371.30, representing a growth rate of 20.92%.
Belgium: Experienced a significant increase of €368.18, reflecting a growth rate of 22.64%.
France: Witnessed a modest increase of €121.92, indicating a growth rate of 7.41%.
Spain: Demonstrated a notable increase of €157.00, representing a growth rate of 13.46%.
Slovenia: Experienced a substantial increase of €178.93, marking a growth rate of 16.65%.
Poland: Saw a significant increase of €316.00, reflecting a notable growth rate of 48.24%.
Portugal: Witnessed a considerable increase of €134.66, indicating a growth rate of 16.38%.


Overall, the average minimum wage across the European Union increased by €190.04, representing an average growth rate of 18.53%. These figures underscore the dynamic nature of wage trends within the European labor market and highlight the varying degrees of economic growth and policy changes across different member states.

Minimum wages across European Union 2024

When visualizing data on the map, its' clearly visible that higher minimum wages are set in the Western European countries, despite the higher growth rates are found in Eastern European countries.

I find these data useful as right now I'm growing TerraMatris crypto hedge fund from scratch and minimum wage in EU seems one of the benchmarks to look at when growing our fund in monthly terms, as of writing this article we are targeting about $10.1/daily, that wouldn't get us even a lowest minimum wage in EU yet. We would need at to target at least $17.26/daily to have a minimum wage in Romania. 

I hope next time I'm going to make an article about minimum wages in EU for 2025, our monthly income from the fund will increase to at least average minimum wage in EU.

How about you? How do you interpret this data? Are you a person receiving minimum wage in one of the mentioned countries above? Leave a comment, readers and I would love to hear!

Add new comment