Eurostat data as of 1 July this year unambiguously show Bulgaria as the country with the lowest minimum wage in the European Union.
The minimum gross monthly wage at the end of the first half of the year was EUR 477, which puts us at the bottom of the ranking. The countries with the lowest minimum wages in the EU are Hungary, Latvia, and Romania, where they amount to EUR 750 per month.
The top of the list is Luxembourg. According to Eurostat, workers there currently earn the highest minimum wage – EUR 2 571 per month gross.
In recent years, the average annual growth rate of the minimum wage in the country has been around 11%. The government’s proposed minimum wage for next year is currently out for public consultation. The proposed amount for the start of the new year is BGN 1,077, which means an increase of 15.6% compared to the current minimum wage in the country.
Bulgaria is also among the EU countries giving the least money for pensions.
The figures published by Eurostat are for 2021, but they clearly show where our pension system is compared to the rest of the EU. Despite the steps taken by the government to improve living standards in recent years, the situation has not changed much to date.
Eurostat data show that Luxembourg again has the highest pension levels, with an average of EUR 2,575 monthly. This is followed by Denmark (€2,417) and Austria (€1,958). The same report shows that pensions in Bulgaria are the lowest compared to other EU countries. Romania comes closest with an average pension of €382, which is over €150 more than in Bulgaria. In Greece, the average pension is over €1,000 and in France it is over €1,500.
The latest pension increase in Bulgaria is 11% and came into effect on 1 July this year. The recalculation covers the pensions of more than 2 million pensioners. From the same date, a 30% increase in the supplement of the pension of a deceased spouse also came into force. This is the first increase in this type of supplement in years.
With the new increase, the minimum amount of the retirement pension became BGN 580.57. The minimum amount of other types of pensions (disability, inheritance) is set as a percentage of the minimum amount of the retirement pension. The amount of the social old-age pension was also increased from BGN 276.64 to BGN 307.07.
Despite the government’s measures to raise pensioners’ incomes, Bulgaria is the country with the lowest pensions among EU countries.