Minimum wages rise in Spain and Portugal but frozen in Netherlands

Minimum wage rates have gone up by 2.5% in Portugal and by 2.0% in Spain this month but remain the same in the Netherlands.

January normally sees all three countries putting up their minimum wage rates but this year the Dutch rates will not be going up. This follows the agreement reached between the unions, employers and the government last year that there would be a general pay freeze in 2004. The latest inflation figures, for December, show prices rising by 1.7% in the Netherlands.

In Spain and Portugal too the minimum wage is not going up enough to offset the impact of last year's inflation, which was 2.6% in December in Spain and 3.3% in Portugal.

The current levels of the minimum wage in the three countries are Spain - €451.20 per month; Portugal - €356.70 per month; and the Netherlands - €1264.80 per month. However, the Dutch rate only applies to those over 22, while the rates in Spain and Portugal apply to all employees irrespective of age. A 17-year-old on the minimum wage in the Netherlands would receive €499.60.