The Portuguese government has presented a proposal to increase the minimum wage from €665 to €705 in 2022.
As the government explains in the documentation delivered to unions and business confederations on Tuesday, this latest bump would represent a €200 increase to the national minimum wage since 2005.
In other words, employees earning minimum wage would now make €2,800 more per year – a 39.6% increase.
Says the government, forecasts show that the increase of the national minimum wage will not have any negative consequences on employment and that, in fact, a “scenario of economy recovery” is predicted for 2022.
Furthermore, the government adds that it plans to reach its €750 minimum wage target by 2023, meaning it is “only €85 away from its goal”.
According to government data from June, around 880,000 people in Portugal were earning the national minimum wage – in other words, around 24.6% of the country’s employed workforce.
Further statistics show that 27% of employed women receive the minimum wage against 22.6% of employed men. The Alentejo is the region where the lowest allowed wage is most prevalent (31.7%), followed by the Algarve (30.8%).
