(21 February 2013) – Eurostat has published its latest minimum wage statistics in the EU but also in Croatia, Turkey and the USA. Not surprisingly, minimum wage levels vary considerably among countries.
In January 2013, 20 of the EU’s 27 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom), Croatia and Turkey had national legislation setting a minimum wage by statute or by national intersectoral agreement.
Monthly minimum wages varied widely, from EUR 157 in Romania to EUR 1 874 in Luxembourg. When adjusted for price differentials across countries, the disparities between the Member States are reduced from a range of one to twelve (in EUR) to a range of one to six in purchasing power standard (PPS). At the opposite ends of the scale were Romania (274 PPS) and Luxembourg (1 524 PPS per month).
By comparison, with a minimum wage of 1 024 PPS, the US ranks between the UK (1153 PPS) and Slovenia (913 PPS). Turkey’s and Croatia’s minimum wages amount respectively to 653 and 516 PPS per month.