Minister of Welfare Uldis Augulis (Greens and Farmers Union) said that "we are starting to move to the new system where the minimum wage will be set as a percentage of the national average wage. This will certainly improve the material situation and living standards of the lowest paid workers."
According to the Central Statistical Office's data on workers whose earnings were below the minimum wage, in 2023, out of 131,584 such workers, 99,270, or 18.6%, were employed in the private sector, and 29,012, or 12.6%, in the public sector.
Between 2020 and 2023, the share of minimum wage and below earners in the public sector increased slightly from 10.4% in 2020 to 12.6% in 2023, while in the private sector, the share of minimum wage earners decreased from 21.2% to 18.6%.
In 2023, 822,489 people were employed in Latvia.
