{"id":6528,"date":"2023-02-07T16:18:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=6528"},"modified":"2023-02-07T16:20:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:20:01","slug":"malta-bl-inqas-zieda-fil-paga-minima-fl-ue","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/malta-bl-inqas-zieda-fil-paga-minima-fl-ue\/","title":{"rendered":"Malta with the lowest minimum wage increase in the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Despite the \u20ac9.90 weekly rise, minimum wage earners in Malta had the lowest increase across the EU in 2023 with a modest 5.4% rise in their salary which reached \u20ac835. Moreover, the rise has already eaten up by the cost of living increase (HICP) which was of 7.29%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This data was published by Eurofound in its annual analysis of minimum wage trends across the EU whereby increases reached an all-time high. However, as in the case of Malta, in many other countries the workers\u2019 purchasing power was eroded nonetheless due to the exceptionally high rate of inflation. Looking ahead, Eurofound is forecasting inflation rates to remain high, meaning that minimum wages are expected to be eroded further by the end of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2023 nominal increases (without taking into consideration inflation) in minimum wages across the EU rose by huge margins in countries like Latvia (24%), Germany (22.2%) and Bulgaria (20%) down to as little as 5.4% in Malta and 5.8% in Luxembourg. In Cyprus there was no increase for the simple reason that the statutory minimum wage of \u20ac885 has just been introduced. On average, the minimum wage increased by 12% across the EU which is twice as much as in 2022.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation eating up the increase<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the record increases, in most cases this was not enough to offset the rise in the cost of living. The only countries where the minimum wage increase in real terms was above 1% were Latvia, Germany, Romania, Belgium and Slovenia. On the other hand in Czechia for example inflation (16.78%) was almost three times as much as the minimum wage increase (9.79%). Other notable discrepancies were registered in Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Portugal and Malta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How did other countries address the exceptional rise in inflation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n