According to figures from Eurostat, the statistical body of the European Union, monthly minimum wages in the eastern countries are below €500, however they are above €1,000 in the northwest, with the highest minimum wage (Luxembourg) in the EU at around nine times the amount of the lowest (Bulgaria).

As of 1 January 2017, 22 out of the 28 member states of the EU have national minimum wages: only Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden do not have one. The 22 EU Member States that have national minimum wages can be divided into three main groups based on the level in euro.

Ten member states, located in the east of the EU, had minimum wages below €500 per month: Bulgaria (€235), Romania (€275), Latvia and Lithuania (both €380), the Czech Republic (€407), Hungary (€412), Croatia (€433), Slovakia (€435), Poland (€453) and Estonia (€470).

In five other Member States, located in the south, minimum wages were between €500 and €1 000 per month: Portugal (€650), Greece (€684), Malta (€736), Slovenia (€805) and Spain (€826).

In the remaining seven member states, all located in the west and north of the EU, minimum wages were well above €1,000 per month: the United Kingdom (€1,397), France (€1,480), Germany (€1,498), Belgium (€1,532), the Netherlands (€1,552), Ireland (€1,563) and Luxembourg (€1,999). For comparison, the federal minimum wage in the United States was €1,192 per month in January 2017.

Figures from Eurostat show that the disparities in minimum wages across the EU States are considerably smaller once price level differences are eliminated: minimum wages in those member states with relatively lower price levels become relatively higher when expressed in purchasing power standard (PPS), and relatively lower in those member states with higher price levels.

The gap is reduced to a ratio of about 1:3, ranging from 501 PPS per month in Bulgaria to 1,659 PPS in Luxembourg.

Minimum wages may also be measured in relative terms, i.e. as a proportion of the median gross monthly earnings. Minimum wages are closest to median earnings in Portugal, France and Slovenia.

Compared with 2008, minimum wages in 2017, expressed in euro, increased in every Member State having a national minimum wage, except Greece where they dropped by 14%. Between 2008 and 2017, minimum wages doubled in Bulgaria (+109%) and Romania (+99%). In addition, Slovakia (+80%) as well as the three EU Baltic Member States – Estonia (+69%), Latvia (+65%) and Lithuania (+64%) – also recorded significant increases.