The purchasing power of Bulgaria’s minimum wage approaches the EU average

Since the beginning of 2026, the minimum monthly salary in Bulgaria is 620 euros, the lowest in the EU. However, this wage allows Bulgarians to buy goods and services that cost 1,039 euros for the average European. This is according to Eurostat’s first recalculation of the year for the purchasing power of minimum wages in the EU.

This places Bulgaria in the group of member states where purchasing power exceeds 1,000 euros. Bulgaria ranks ahead of Estonia (minimum wage – 886 euros), Latvia (780 euros), and the Czechia (924 euros), approaching Slovakia, Malta and Hungary.

Of the 27 EU member states, 22 have a statutory minimum wage. There is not a single European country with a minimum wage whose purchasing power has decreased compared to 2025. The highest minimum wage is in Luxembourg – 2,704 euros.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov