Minimum wage nearing average salary

With the new increase in the minimum wage to 780 euros gross and the drop in unemployment, a view across private sector payrolls in 2023 would show that about half of the country's workers will be paid gross earnings of €700-1,000 - i.e. up to €820 euros net.

The percentage of people in this income category is expected to be around 45-50% at the end of 2023, from just 28% at the end of 2019.

There are two main reasons for this surge: the increase of the minimum salary from €650 euros to €780 euros from 2019 up until now, and the fact that the number of workers with takings below €700 has decreased - and will decrease further. Therefore, while there are substantial inflows in the income bracket of €700-1,000, there are no corresponding outflows as the raises that depend on employers and not on government intervention are currently limited.

That is also reflected...