The first official data for 2026 offer a fresh snapshot of minimum wages across the European Union, highlighting both persistent disparities and a gradual convergence once
differences in living costs are taken into account.
As of 1 January 2026, 22 of the EU’s 27 countries had a national minimum wage in place. The five exceptions remain Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden, where wages are set through collective bargaining rather than statutory floors.
Wide differences in nominal minimum wages
Measured in euros per month, minimum wages continue to vary significantly across the bloc.
At the lower end of the scale, eight countries recorded minimum wages below €1 000. These include Bulgaria (€620), Latvia (€780), Romania (€795), Hungary (€838), Estonia (€886), Slovakia (€915), Czechia (€924) and Malta (€994).
Another eight countries fell into the mid-range, with minimum wages between €1 000 and €1 500 per month. This group includes Greece (€1 027), Croatia (€1 050), Portugal (€1 073), Cyprus (€1 088), Poland (€1 139), Lithuania (€1 153), Slovenia (€1 278) and Spain (€1 381).
At the top end, six EU countries reported minimum wages above €1 500 per month. France (€1 823) leads this group, followed by Belgium (€2 112), the Netherlands (€2 295), Germany (€2 343), Ireland (€2 391) and Luxembourg (€2 704), which remains the highest in the EU.
Overall, the highest statutory minimum wage was 4.4 times greater than the lowest when measured in nominal euro terms.
Cost of living narrows the gap
However, headline figures tell only part of the story. When minimum wages are adjusted for price level differences using purchasing power standards (PPS), the gap between countries becomes notably smaller.
Lower-price-level countries see their relative minimum wages rise in PPS terms, while those with higher living costs move closer to the EU average. After this adjustment, minimum wages ranged from PPS 886 per month in Estonia to PPS 2 157 in Germany. This means the highest minimum wage was just 2.4 times the lowest, rather than more than four times. Photo by Lionel Allorge, Wikimedia commons.