With an income of €762, Malta’s national minimum wage is below the European Union average, Eurostat data has revealed.
As of this year, 22 out of the 28 member states of the European Union have national minimum wages, Eurostat said. Only Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden do not have a set minimum wage, the EU data bureau added.
According to the data submitted by the 22 countries last month, the average minimum wage across the European Union was €924 – a far cry from the €762 earned by minimum wage earners in Malta.
By the end of last month, Bulgaria had the lowest gross minimum wage across the EU – just €286. Eastern European member states had minimum wages between €400 and €600 per month.
Southern European member states, including Malta, Greece, Portugal and Spain, all had minimum wages ranging between €650 and just over €1,000 per month. Malta fared better than Greece and Portugal, but worse than Slovenia and Spain.
In the remaining seven member states, all located in the west and north of the EU, minimum wages were above €1,450 per month: the United Kingdom (€1,453), France (€1,521), Germany (€1,557), Belgium (€1,594), the Netherlands (€1,616), Ireland…
