More than 1.6 million workers in the private and public sectors will immediately benefit from the 6% increase in the minimum wage to 880 euros per month as of April 1, from 830 euros at present, Labour and Social Insurance Minister Niki Kerameus said in a press conference on Thursday.
"Our aim is to boost the available income of employees but also the resilience of the economy and businesses," Kerameus said, noting that care was needed to make changes to the basic wage sustainable, in order to preserve the jobs that have been created.
She announced that there will be extensive dialogue with the social partners to provide incentives that support and promote the signature of more collective agreements, which currently cover 30% of employees.
According to figures presented during the press conference, Greece has the 11th highest basic wage among 22 EU countries, climbing three places. Talking about the process of setting the basic wage in 2025, she said this took had taken into account the country's GDP growth (2.3% in 2024), a 4.5% increase in investments, a reduction in unemployment and a fall in annual inflation to 3% from 4.2% in 2023.
There will also be a 30-euro monthly increase in public-sector wages, after a 70-euro increase the previous year. "Since 2019 there has been a cumulative increase of 230 euros per month or 3,220 euros on an annual basis, an increase approaching 35.4%," Kerameus added. She pointed out that this exceeded the equivalent increase in prices over the past six-year period, which had risen by 16.4% between 2019-2024. The minister also highlighted the drop in unemployment to 8.7%, noting that this was a 17-year low.