Ukraine has the lowest minimum wage of any European country, at just 169 euros a month, according to Eurostat data cited by Euronews. The figure applies when European Union candidate countries are counted alongside EU member states.
Only eight of the 29 European countries covered raised their minimum wage between January and July 2026, even as inflation across the eurozone ran at 3.2% over the same period, Euronews reported. That means many minimum-wage workers effectively lost purchasing power as prices rose faster than their pay.
Highest and lowest wages
Luxembourg has the highest minimum monthly wage in Europe, at 2,771 euros. Among EU member states, Bulgaria has the lowest, at 620 euros. Moldova, another EU candidate country, has the second-lowest minimum wage in Europe overall, at 313 euros. In every other country covered by the data, the minimum wage exceeds 500 euros.
How countries compare
Five countries pay a minimum wage above 2,000 euros a month: Luxembourg, Ireland (2,391 euros), Germany (2,343 euros), the Netherlands (2,338 euros) and Belgium (2,234 euros). France sits just below that group, at 1,867 euros.
Nine countries pay between 1,000 and 2,000 euros, though most are closer to the lower end of that range. They include Slovenia (1,482 euros), Spain (1,425 euros), Lithuania (1,153 euros), Poland (1,119 euros), Cyprus (1,088 euros), Greece (1,073 euros), Portugal (1,073 euros) and Croatia (1,050 euros).
The remaining 15 countries, more than half of those with available data, pay less than 1,000 euros a month. Seven of them are EU candidate countries.
Which countries raised wages
Only eight countries increased their minimum wage between January and July 2026: North Macedonia (up 6.9%), Romania (up 6.8%), Estonia (up 6.8%), Belgium (up 5.8%), Greece (up 4.5%), Luxembourg (up 2.5%), France (up 2.4%) and the Netherlands (up 1.9%). Minimum wages in the rest of the countries surveyed stayed unchanged.
Five EU countries, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Finland, have no statutory minimum wage at all. Eurostat is the European Union's statistical office, and Euronews is a pan-European news broadcaster. Ukraine has held official EU candidate status since 2022.
Average wages in Ukraine
Separately, Ukraine's State Statistics Service reported that the average wage in the country rose 5.9% in June compared with May, reaching 32,783 hryvnias before tax. After Ukraine's 18% personal income tax and 5% military levy were deducted, workers took home an average of 25,243 hryvnias net.
The average wage at Ukraine's central executive authorities stood at 66,840 hryvnias in June, about 7,000 hryvnias higher than in the same period a year earlier. The highest average salary was recorded at the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, at 107,200 hryvnias.
