Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage in the EU, Eurostat data shows

As at January 2025, among EU countries that have national minimum wages, only ten had minimum wages below €1 000 per month, according to the latest data from Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency.

Bulgaria ranks lowest in the EU with a minimum wage of €551, while Luxembourg tops the list with €2,638 per month. This makes Luxembourg’s minimum wage 4.8 times higher than Bulgaria’s. For comparison, back in 2007, when Bulgaria joined the EU, the gap was even wider at 13.7 times. At that time, Belgium had the highest minimum wage among reporting countries at €1,259, while Bulgaria’s was €92.

As at January 1, 2025, 22 of the 27 EU member states have national minimum wages. Of these, the following countries have monthly minimum wages below €1,000:

• Bulgaria (€551)
• Hungary (€707)
• Latvia (€740)
• Romania (€814)
• Slovakia (€816)
• Czech Republic (€826)
• Estonia (€886)
• Malta (€961)
• Greece (€968)

In six countries, the minimum wage ranged from €1,000 to €1,500 a month. These are Cyprus (€1,000), Portugal (€1,015), Lithuania (€1,038), Poland (€1,091), Slovenia (€1,278) and Spain (€1,381).

The other six EU countries with minimum wages are France (€1,802), Belgium (€2,070), Germany (€2,161), the Netherlands (€2,193), Ireland (€2,282) and Luxembourg (€2,638).

Eurostat notes that the disparities in minimum wages across countries are considerably smaller once price level differences are taken into account.

When expressed in purchasing power standard (PPS)—which accounts for differences in the cost of living—minimum wages in lower-cost countries appear higher in relative terms. After adjusting for price differences across countries, minimum wages ranged from 878 PPS per month in Estonia to 1992 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 countries, namely France, Portugal and Slovenia with 66% in all three.

In Bulgaria, the minimum wage represented 54% of the average wage in 2022.

Minimum wages in 2022 were less than half of the median earnings in four countries: Belgium (49%), Malta (46%), Estonia and Latvia (43%).