According to Eurostat data finalized yesterday, minimum wages in Hungary still lag behind other EU members, reports the Budapest Business Journal and MTI today.
Eurostat data for 2015 suggest that the minimum wage in Hungary is 332.76 Euros per month, which is around the average in the region, but lags behind the frontrunners of the EU.
Compared to the V4 countries, in the Czech Republic the monthly minimum wage is 331.71 Euros, in Slovakia it is 380 Euros, and in Poland it is 409.53 Euros per month.
Considering the neighboring countries of Hungary: Romaniaʼs monthly minimum wage is 217.5 Euros, Croatiaʼs is 395.61, Serbiaʼs is 235.04 and Sloveniaʼs is 790.3 Euros per month, while Eurostat offers no data for Austria.
According to Eurostat data the forerunner in minimum wages per month is Luxembourg with 1,922.96 Euros, followed by Belgiumʼs and the Netherlandʼs 1,501.8 Euros, respectively. Germany, Ireland, France and the United Kingdom follow the leaders close with monthly minimum wages of 1,473, 1,461.85, 1,457.52 and 1,378.87 Euros, respectively.
In the United States, minimum wage per month is 1,035.06 Euros, according to Eurostat data.
The report also showed that GDP per capita, average consumption and consumer prices of food and beverages in Hungary are below the European Union average.
The report said Hungary’s GDP per capita was 68 percent of the EU average while its actual individual consumption (AIC) was 62 percent of the average, in the lowest quarter of EU countries.
The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages in Hungary is 79 percent of the average for the European Union, the report says.
The price of bread and cereals in Hungary is 72 percent of the EU average, while the price of meat is 71 percent of the average, MTI reported, adding that prices for milk, cheese and eggs are 87 percent of the average.
The prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco are 74 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of the EU average, the Eurostat data show.