Greece to Increase Minimum Wage to €780 From Today

The Minister of Labour of Greece, Kostis Hatzidakis, said that the decision to increase the minimum wage was taken after taking into account workers’ increased needs and the same noted that this is a significant and fair increase.

“The increase in the minimum wage to 780 euros per month from April 1 is imposed by the increased needs of workers and is based on the dynamics that the economy has developed over the last four years,” the statement of the Ministry reads.

Minister Hatzidakis said that the country’s authorities took several factors into consideration when determining the minimum wage, with one of them being unemployment, which fell from around 17.5 per cent in 2019 to 10.8 per cent in January.

Before taking such a decision, the authorities also took into consideration the competitiveness, which has increased due to investments and exports, and the course of inflation, which according to the authorities, will remain at high levels.

Now that Greece has officially decided to increase its minimum wage to €780 from the beginning of next month, the country leaves the 13^th position among the other EU Member States and is placed in the tenth position. In terms of purchasing power, it has been highlighted that the country rises to 13^th place from the previous 18^th place.

“We are not celebrating, but the development shows that Greece has climbed several steps and that a serious governance with a dynamic economy can lead to even more positive results,” Minister Hatzidakis emphasised.