There is something that draws powerful attention when placed on the same map he minimum wage in all European countries: the difference between one and the other is not a crack, it is an abyss.
Two workers on the same continent and working the same day can finish the month with a payroll that doesn’t even look like it. The data of Eurostat on the minimum wage in 2026 confirm this.
The portal Visual Capitalist has collected this data and has represented it on a map in which the Minimum Interprofessional Wage of each country in Europe can be compared at a glance, recording the salary (and economic) variety of the continent.
What is the minimum wage and why does it matter?
He minimum wage It is the lowest remuneration established by law that an employer can legally pay to its workers. In this way, employees are guaranteed a decent standard of living and avoid situations of labor exploitation. According to the European Labor Authority (EURES), this minimum wage also contributes to reducing inequality economic and contributes to internal consumption across countries, as lower-paid workers tend to spend a higher proportion of their income.
Not all countries establish this minimum wage the same. Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden do not have a legal minimum wage and leave this negotiation in the hands of unions and companies through collective agreements.
Swiss It also does not have a federal threshold and each canton negotiates its own minimum wage. For example, the minimum wage in Geneva in 2024 was 24.59 francs per hour, which is about 4,640 euros per month, but rent in Geneva ranges between 1,580 and 2,630 euros and compulsory health insurance exceeds 370 euros per adult. This means that a considerable part of the salary disappears into fixed expenses, while in other European countries covering these fixed costs would be much more affordable.
Comparing minimum wage figures between countries without taking into account the cost of living can lead to misleading conclusions. A salary of 1,139 euros in Poland is equivalent, in terms of purchasing power, to more than 1,800 euros in countries with a higher cost of living such as Germany or France.
Those who earn the most: Western Europe at the forefront
Within the scope of the European Union, Luxembourg leads the table with a minimum wage of 2,704 euros per month, followed by Ireland with 2,391 euros, Germany with 2,343 euros and the Netherlands with an SMI of 2,295 euros.
If we look at the continental neighbors that are not part of the EU, the minimum wage in the United Kingdom is applied by age ranges, so those over 21 years of age earn 12.71 pounds per hour (the equivalent of about 15.20 euros). This implies that their minimum salary would be about 2,279 euros per month for a standard working day of 37.5 hours per week.
Eastern Europe below average
The lower minimum wages They occur in the eastern half of Europe, with Bulgaria as the EU country with the lowest SMI with 551 euros per month, followed by Hungary with 727 euros, Latvia with an SMI of 740 euros and Romania with 797 euros.
The difference between Luxembourg and Bulgaria is abysmal, with a wage gap between the two countries that exceeds 2,150 euros, in two countries with the same currency and the same single market.
Outside the community bloc, Ukraine sets the continent’s record with just 164 euros per month according to the data from Eurostat, which means that a minimum wage worker in Luxembourg earns more than 16 times more per month than one in Ukraine.
Spain: the SMI as a thermometer of low salaries
In Spain, the last increase in the SMI was applied in February 2026, leaving it with a gross salary of 1,221 euros per month in 14 payments (1,424.50 euros gross in 12 payments). That salary places Spain in tenth place of the table, just behind the 1,802 euros of France and ahead of the 1,278 euros of Slovenia.
Spain has been one of the countries that has increased this minimum wage the most, going from 735 euros in 2018 to the 1,381 euros it had in 2025, as shown in Eurostat statistics.
The underlying problem in Spain is that the SMI has become the most common salaryso far from being an exceptional floor for less qualified jobs, it acts as the usual salary for entire sectors. Salary statistics reflect that the latest increases in the SMI have served to push upwards the lowest salariescreating a salary pyramid with an excessively wide base and some intermediate sections that they have not risen at the same rate.
In Xataka | Finding a job had always been a good way to escape poverty: in Spain it is no longer true
Image | VisualCapitalist
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings