On 1 July 2024, 22 out of the 27 EU countries had a national minimum monthly wage. EU countries without a national minimum wage were Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
Monthly minimum wages vary widely across the Member States, from €477 in Bulgaria to €2 571 in Luxembourg. For Latvia, the figure is €700.
That puts Latvia in a group with Cyprus, Poland, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, Hungary and Bulgaria in having a monthly minimum wage below €1,000.
When gross minimum wages are adjusted for price differences across countries, Latvia falls one more place to the second-lowest position in the EU ahead of only Bulgaria. On 1 July 2024, the highest minimum wage in Luxembourg was 5.4 times the lowest one in Bulgaria in terms of euros. But when adjusted for price differences, the highest in Luxembourg was 2.4 times the lowest in Bulgaria.
