Topic Highlights: Minimum wages in the EU
Whilst German policy makers are currently discussing whether or not to introduce a minimum wage, 18 of the 25 EU Member States have
up until now passed according legislation. The acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania and the candidate country Turkey have also
introduced minimum wages. In some countries, statutory minimum wages have a long tradition: In the Netherlands they were first introduced in 1969, whilst in the USA they were put in place as ealry as 1938.
The level of the monthly minimum wage however varies considerably from one country to the next: Within the EU Latvia had the lowest monthly minimum wage (129 Euro) in early 2006, whilst the highest level was reached in Luxemburg (1503 Euro). Even when the difference in Euro purchasing power is taken into consideration, the variance remains highly significant.
For more information and data on this topic please consult the following Eurostat data tables and
publications.
Eurostat Data
Monthly minimum wage in Euro and purchasing power parities: Bi-annual data for 2002 to 2006 available as an Excel table.
Download table or access a
bar chart for the
first half of 2006
Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of the average monthly wage: Data available in Excel format for 2002 to 2005. Data is offered as a total figure for industry and services sector as a whole (NACE codes C to K).
Download table
Proportion of full-time employees with minimum wage by sex: Annual data for 1999 to 2005 in Excel format.
Download table
Eurostat Online Database: This link takes you directly to the database section on minimum
wages.
Access database section on minimum wages
Methodological information: Access to detailed methodological information including definitions and information on data
quality.
Metadata on minimum wages
Eurostat: Statistics explained
Background information on Minimum wages
Eurostat Publications
Statistics in focus: These booklets are available free-of-charge as PDF downloads.Minimum wages 2006
News releases: The most important Eurostat news releases on minimum wages.
13.07.2006 Minimum wages in the EU25
