Bulgaria tops EU with 13% on minimum wage

ByEnigma 808

Bulgaria has the highest proportion of workers earning the minimum wage in the European Union, according to Eurostat data. Approximately 13 percent of the country’s workforce receives this base level of pay. France and Slovenia follow closely, with shares of 12.7 and 12.6 percent, respectively. Several other nations, including Romania, Greece, Poland, and Hungary, also report that over ten percent of their workers earn the minimum wage.

In contrast, countries like the Czech Republic and Portugal have significantly lower proportions, at 2.6 and 3.1 percent. Experts attribute these disparities to the strength of national labor institutions and collective bargaining agreements. Beyond the high incidence of minimum wage work, Bulgaria also ranks at the bottom of the EU for the purchasing power of that wage.

The Bulgarian government is taking steps to address the issue, with a planned 12.6 percent increase to the national minimum wage set for the coming year. The data also highlighted a more extreme situation in Turkey, where reports indicate that over a third of workers earn the minimum wage.

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    Besides writing and being a content creator, Enigma 808 sometimes likes to watch paint dry on walls, listening to ASMR while timing snails racing. Such is life.