The monthly sum for unqualified workers aged over 18 rose from €1,998.60 to €2,048.54. So-called qualified workers, meanwhile, will now earn a minimum of €2,458.25. The revision reinforces Luxembourg’s position as the country with the highest minimum wage in the EU.

It is almost eight times more than that earned in Bulgaria (€260.80, according to Eurofound). According to the government, the hourly minimum wage for non-qualified adults was revised up to €11.84, €14.20 for qualified adults, €9.47 for 17 to 18-year-olds and €8.88 for 15 to 17-year-olds. Click here (PDF) to see how the indexation mechanism has impacted other benefits, including pensions and the RMG social income support scheme.

Indexation of earnings is a sliding wage mechanism aimed at preserving purchasing power in which earnings increase by 2.5% whenever living costs rise to a certain threshold.

While the minimum wage is high comparatively, it is pegged to the high cost of living in Luxembourg. A recent report published on Wednesday by statistics body Statec calculated that the cost of living decently (meeting needs and actively participating in society) in Luxembourg for a couple with two children was €4,079. A couple without children would need €2,707 and a single mother would have to earn €2,724 per month, according to the calculation.