Minimum Wage Increases to 880 Euros
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in the Council of Ministers that the minimum wage will increase to 880 Euros as of April 1. The wage, which was 650 Euros in 2019, is now 830 Euros; this 50 Euro increase brings the annual cumulative earnings to 2,735 Euros (approximately 5 old net salaries). The annual net earnings of employees will increase by one salary compared to the previous year. Since 14 salaries are legally required in the private sector, this will mean that the minimum wage will be 1,026 Euros per month.
This increase affects approximately 575,000 employees and increases 19 benefits such as maternity, marriage and unemployment. Three-year seniority differences and average salaries will also increase. With this increase, Greece ranks 11th among the 22 EU countries that implement a minimum wage.
Mitsotakis stated that this step improves incomes in line with election promises, but although it does not meet all needs, it provides steady progress. Public employees will receive an average of 190 euros per month (one salary according to 2022) in additional benefits.
The goal is to increase the minimum wage to 950 euros and the average wage to 1,500 euros in 2027. Unemployment has fallen to 8.7%, while 500,000 new jobs have been created since 2019. Mitsotakis emphasized that the increase does not affect the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, and that resources are also allocated to health, education and defense with financial discipline.
