Minimum wage will rise to 880 euros as of April 1, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Gov’t officials on raise in minimum wage
Government officials said that the rise of minimum wage to 880 euros as of April 1, announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, means that theincrease would amount to a 6.02% raise, while a minimum day wages would also rise on the same day from 37.07 euros to 39.40 euros.
“The basic aim is to strengthen the available income of wage earners and their purchasing power, to support employees, improve living conditions, and to further develop the country’s economy,” the officials said.
The increase is the 5th one on basic wages since 2019, while the cumulative increase in a six-year perspective amounts to 35.4%. It would be as if employees receive an annual total of nearly 5 additional minimum wages of 2019.
In addition, the total rise in minimum wages by 35.4% since 2019 is nearly double than the cumulative inflation of the same period, which amounted to 18.1%.
The officials said that now Greece is 11th in rank among 22 EU member states that have a minimum wage. The government’s goal is to have minimum wage rise to 950 euros by 2027.
This raise of both wage and day earners will benefit over 1.6 million citizens, including over 575,000 minimum-wage earners in the private sector, civil servants who will also benefit from the raise, and anybody who receives benefits based on minimum wage (e.g. for motherhood, marriage, parental leave, unemployment).
