Minimum wage in Romania doubles compared to 2008, says Eurostat

Bulgaria and Romania had on 1 January 2017 the lowest minimum wages in the European Union (EU), namely 235 Euro and 275 Euro per month respectively, the data published by the European Statistics Office - Eurostat on Friday reveals, according to Agerpres.

2017-02-10 15:42:41

Eurostat says a number of 22 out of 28 member states of the EU have a minimum wage set per economy, unlike Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden, where there isn′t one.
The 22 member states of the EU with a minimum wage can be divided into three main groups: one, which includes ten member states located in the east of the communist bloc, among which Romania, where the minimum wage is lower than 500 Euro per month; the second group is comprised of another five member states in the south of the EU, where the minimum wage varies between 500 Euro and 1,000 Euro per month, and the third group that is made of member states located in the west and north of the EU, all with minimum wages of above 1,000 Euro.

The highest minimum wages in the EU are in Germany (1,498 Euro), Belgium (1,532 Euro), the Netherlands (1,552 Euro), Ireland (1,563 Euro) and Luxembourg (1,999 Euro).
Eurostat mentions that in 2017 compared to the situation of 2008, the minimum wage has increased in all member states, except Greece, where it declined 14 per cent. The highest growths were recorded in Bulgaria and Romania, where the minimum wage has doubled, following some growths of 109 per cent, 99 per cent respectively.