Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage among the European Union member states as of January 2025, standing at 551 euros. In contrast, Luxembourg leads with the highest minimum wage at 2,638 euros. Over the past decade, Bulgaria's minimum wage has seen a modest increase of just under 12%.

As of January 2025, 22 out of the 27 EU countries have established a national minimum wage. The exceptions are Denmark, Italy, Austria, Sweden, and Finland, where no national minimum wage is set.

Based on the national gross monthly minimum wages in euros, EU countries can be divided into three groups. The first group, which includes Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France, has wages above 1,500 euros per month. The second group, with wages ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 euros per month, includes Spain, Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Portugal, and Cyprus. Bulgaria, along with Croatia, Greece, Malta, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, and Hungary, falls into the third group, with wages under 1,000 euros per month. For comparison, the federal minimum wage in the United States is 1,210 euros per month.

In terms of wage growth, Bulgaria, alongside Romania, Lithuania, and Poland, has experienced some of the highest average annual increases in the past decade, exceeding 10%. On the other hand, France has seen the lowest average growth rate at just over 2%, while Malta's rate is nearly 3%.

Source: Eurostat