Despite an increase in January from 40,000 to 50,000 lekë, the minimum wage in Albania has continued to be the lowest in the region and in Europe, excluding the countries of the former Soviet Union. The difference deepens even more when measured in purchasing power, indicating a faster increase in prices relative to wages.
Eurostat has today published the first data on the minimum wage in European countries that implement this standard.
For Albania, the minimum wage is 517 euros, up from 408 euros in the previous quarter. The value in euros is favored by the exchange rate. Again, this is the lowest level in the region, while countries such as Serbia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro have moved faster in terms of increasing not only the minimum wage, but also the average wage in general.
Serbia has the highest minimum wage in the region, at 744 euros. Montenegro ranks second, with 670 euros, followed by North Macedonia with 586 euros. Data for Kosovo is lacking, but the government of this country has also decided to increase the minimum wage in two stages to reach 500 euros in the second half of this year.
Eurostat data shows that while the difference between minimum wages in the region between Albania and other countries is not very high, especially with North Macedonia, it deepens in the other indicator, the minimum wage in purchasing power parity, which compares in real purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, i.e. taking into account how expensive or cheap prices are in each country. In simple terms, wages have been adjusted to purchasing power parity for the year 2024, so that the comparison shows how much the minimum wage can actually buy in each country, and not just how much it is in currency.
For Albania this indicator is 708 PPS, while for North Macedonia it is 1069 PPS. So, while the minimum wage in Albania is only 11.7% lower, measured in purchasing power it is 34% lower. This means that a Macedonian citizen not only has a higher salary, but he also buys much more per unit compared to an Albanian employee. This shows a price increase in Albania at much higher rates than wages.
In Serbia, the minimum wage according to purchasing power is 1105 PPS and in Montenegro, 1058 PPS.
Minimum wage in Europe
According to Eurostat, on January 1, 2026, 22 of the 27 EU countries had national minimum wages, all except Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
Of these countries, 8 had minimum wages below 1,000 euros per month: Bulgaria (620 euros), Latvia (780 euros), Romania (795 euros), Hungary (838 euros), Estonia (886 euros), Slovakia (915 euros), Czech Republic (924 euros) and Malta (994 euros).
In 8 other countries, the minimum wage ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 euros per month: Greece (1,027 euros), Croatia (1,050 euros), Portugal (1,073 euros), Cyprus (1,088 euros), Poland (1,139 euros), Lithuania (1,153 euros), Slovenia (1,278 euros) and Spain (1,381 euros).
In the remaining 6 countries, the minimum wage was over 1,500 euros per month: France (1,823 euros), Belgium (2,112 euros), the Netherlands (2,295 euros), Germany (2,343 euros), Ireland (2,391 euros) and Luxembourg (2,704 euros).
Differences narrow as price level differences are eliminated
The data show that the highest minimum wage in EU countries was 4.4 times higher than the lowest. However, the differences between minimum wages in different countries are significantly smaller when price level differences are taken into account. When expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), minimum wages in EU countries with lower price levels are higher compared to those in countries with higher price levels.
After adjusting for price differences, minimum wages ranged from 886 PPS per month in Estonia to 2,157 PPS in Germany, meaning that the highest minimum wage was 2.4 times higher than the lowest.
In PPS terms, EU countries with national minimum wages can be classified into three different groups:
Compared to January 2025, in 2026 three countries have changed groups: minimum wages in Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are now above 1,000 PPS per month.
