20 February 2012

The basic national minimum wage is fixed at an hourly, weekly or monthly rate, and this minimum wage is enforced by law (the government), often after consultation with the social partners, or directly by national intersectoral agreement. The national minimum wage usually applies to all employees, or at least to a large majority of employees in the country. Gross wages are reported.

Information is available on:

• Monthly minimum wages in euro, Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) and, for non euro area countries, national currencies.
• Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings in the business economy and in industry, construction and services (except activities of households as employers and extra-territorial organisations and bodies) (Nace Rev. 2, data from 2008 onwards).

• Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings in industry and services (NACE Rev. 1.1, data 1999-2009).

Minimum wage statistics published by Eurostat refer to monthly national minimum wages. For countries where the national minimum wage is not set monthly (e.g. hourly or weekly) the rates are converted into monthly rates (see also 20.6).

The data collection excludes countries which do not have a national minimum wage (see 3.7 for details).

None.

Monthly minimum wages: all sectors.

Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings (%) - Nace Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards): monthly earnings refer to sections B to N (business economy) and B to S (industry, construction and services [except activities of households as employers and extra-territorial organisations and bodies]).

Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings (%) - Nace Rev. 1.1 (1999-2009): monthly earnings refer to sections C to K (industry and services excluding public administration).

The basic national minimum wage is fixed at an hourly, weekly or monthly rate, and this minimum wage is enforced by law, often after consultation with the social partners, or directly by national intersectoral agreement. In most countries the national minimum wage is set by statute. In addition, Belgium and Greece are included where the national minimum wage is determined by collective negotiation but fairly universal in coverage (see also 3.7).

The national minimum wage usually applies nationwide to all employees, or at least to a large majority of employees in the country. The monthly rates usually apply to full-time employees and to all occupations, but may be modified to take into account age, length of service, skills or the physical and mental abilities of the employee or the economic conditions in which the enterprise is operating.

The laws governing such systems also contain mechanisms for reviewing the minima, often involving tripartite bargaining between government, unions and employers, in the light of changes in prices, wages and other economic factors. The minimum wage may also be subject to automatic re-assessment (indexed in line with the consumer price index or economic growth) or to discretionary updates (increased by legislation).

Minimum wages are gross amounts, that is, before deduction of income tax and social security contributions. Such deductions vary between countries. 

The statistical unit is the employee.

All employees in each country.

The data collection covers the following 18 Member States which have a statutory national minimum wage: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. Croatia and Turkey have a statutory national minimum wage and are also included.

Belgium and Greece have a national minimum wage which is set by national intersectoral agreement; in Belgium this agreement acquires legal force by royal decree. Both countries are included in the data collection as the minimum wage is fairly universal in coverage.

Data for the USA are also available.

Germany, Cyprus and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have statutory minimum wages that do not apply to all or the large majority of employees but are restricted to specific groups which are defined e.g. by sectors or by professions. These are excluded from the data collection.

• Germany: minimum wages are set for several sectors under the provisions of the Posted Workers Act. For further information see here.
• Cyprus: minimum wages are set for six occupations: salesmen, clerks, auxiliary health care staff and auxiliary staff in nursery schools, crèches and schools.
• The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: a national minimum wage is set by collective agreement for the employees who work full time in the textile, leather and shoes industry.

Also excluded are countries where there are no statutory national minimum wages: Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. In these countries, wages are either determined by negotiations between the social partners, at company level or at the level of individual contracts. Typically, sectoral level agreements are widely applied and have erga omnes applicability, thus constituting de facto minimum wages.

Data on monthly minimum wages in euro, Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) and national currencies are available from 1999.

Data on monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings (%) - Nace Rev. 2 sections B to N and B to S are available from 2008 onwards.

Data on monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings (%) - Nace Rev. 1.1 sections C to K are available for 1999-2009.

Not applicable.

Monthly minimum wages in euro, Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), national currencies, and as a proportion of average monthly earnings.

Monthly minimum wages: biannual with reference months January and July.
Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings: annual average.

The data are collected on the basis of a gentlemen's agreement.

None.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Not applicable.

No release calendar.

Not applicable.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

National minimum wages are published bi-annually. They reflect the situation on 1st of January and 1st of July of each year respectively. Revisions that fall between these dates will not be published.

None.

Minimum Wages in January 2009

Please consult free data on-line or refer to contact details.

Not applicable.

See:  http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/labour_market/earnings

Minimum wages - Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

Minimum wages 1997 - a comparative study (available at http://bookshop.europa.eu/eubookshop/index.action, search for Minimum wages 1997)

None.

Not applicable. Data on the national minimum wage are based on the relevant national legal acts and are transmitted by national authorities such as Ministries of Social Affairs, Labour or Employment, National Statistical Institutes.

Not applicable - see 12.1.

Data are used by governments, trade unions and employers' associations.

Not available.

The data collection covers all Member States, Croatia (acceding state) and Candidate Countries where a national minimum wage is applied.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Monthly minimum wages: released approximately 5-8 weeks after the reference month.

Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings: released approximately 1-2 years after the reference period.

Not applicable (gentlemen's agreement).

Not applicable. National minimum wages are set by national legislation (or by national intersectoral agreement) according to the national situation.

See 16.1.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Data are based on national legal acts. The main burden is on the national delegates providing information on national minimum wages to Eurostat.

Not applicable.

None.

The data on national minimum wages are obtained from administrative sources (mainly legal acts).

Monthly minimum wages: biannually.

Monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings: annually.

Data are transmitted to Eurostat by Ministries of Social Affairs, Labour or Employment or by National Statistical Institutes.

Mainly plausibility checks; in general, the data provided by the Member States are taken at face value.

Only national data are available. Due to the nature of the data no EU aggregates are calculated: not all countries have a national minimum wage and the meaningfulness of a minimum wage at EU level (e.g. calculated as the mean of national minimum wages) is questionable.

Data on national minimum wages are submitted to Eurostat in national currency. For the non-euro area countries, the minimum wages in their national currencies are converted into euro by applying the monthly exchange rate of the end of the previous month (e.g. the end of December 2011 rate was used for the minimum wages at 1^st of January 2012).

To remove the effect of differences in price levels between the countries, special conversion rates called Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) are used. PPPs for household final consumption expenditure in each country are used to convert the monthly minimum wages expressed in national currencies (euro-fixed series for euro area countries) to an artificial common unit called the Purchasing Power Standard (PPS). If e.g. PPPs for 2011 resp. 2012 are not yet available, the ones of the previous, last available year are used, and the series are updated once 2011 rsp. 2012 PPPs are available.

For most countries, the minimum wage is agreed in terms of a monthly rate. For Ireland, France, the United Kingdom and the USA, the minimum wage is fixed at an hourly rate, and for Malta the minimum wage is fixed at a weekly rate. For purposes of comparison, these hourly or weekly rates have been converted to a monthly rate, using factors supplied by the countries concerned. For details see 21.3 Annex.

In addition, when the minimum wage is paid for more than 12 months per year (as in Greece, Spain and Portugal, where it is paid for 14 months a year), data have been adjusted to take these payments into account.

For details on monthly minimum wages and on monthly minimum wage as a proportion of average monthly earnings: see 21.3 Annex.

Additional information on national minimum wages in Member States is available at the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO), e.g. their 2005 study on minimum wages. (http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2005/07/study/index.htm)