North Macedonia posts fastest minimum wage growth among European countries
Eurostat has published the latest data on minimum wage in the European Union’s member states and candidate countries, which shows that North Macedonia and Romania have recorded the largest increase in purchasing power standard (PPS), both climbing by eight places, followed by Serbia, which is up five places.
Based on this indicator, North Macedonia, with a PPS of 1.142, is ranked above seven EU member states – Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Czechia, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Estonia, CE Report quotes MIA.
“When the rankings in nominal terms and PPS are compared across the 27 countries, the biggest winners are Romania and North Macedonia. Romania rises from 20th to 12th, while North Macedonia climbs from 24th to 16th, with both gaining eight places. Serbia (up five places), Croatia and Bulgaria (both up three places) also show significant rises in the PPS rankings. The biggest loser is Estonia, which falls from 16th to 26th, while Latvia, Czechia and Cyprus also lose four places,” Euronews reports.
When it comes to EU member states, Germany is ranked first based on this indicator, followed by Luxembourg, and the Netherlands,
From January to July 2026, North Macedonia has registered the largest increase of minimum wage of all analyzed countries (6.9 percent), followed by Romania (6.8%), Estonia (6.8%), Belgium (5.8%), Greece (4.5%), Luxembourg (2.5%), France (2.4%), and the Netherlands (1.9%).
Eurostat data shows that only eight out of the 29 countries recorded increases in the minimum wage between January and July 2026. Luxembourg has the largest gross minimum wage at EUR 2.771, followed by Ireland at EUR 2.391, Germany EUR 2.343, the Netherlands EUR 2.338, and Belgium EUR 2.234.
Bulgaria has the lowest gross minimum wage in the European Union at EUR 620, with four candidate countries having higher minimum wages – Türkiye with EUR 621, North Macedonia with EUR 624, Montenegro with EUR 670 and Serbia with EUR 743.
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