Minimum wage above €950: how much of an increase will the high cost really eat up?

The Greek government promises new minimum wage increase: above €950 gross in April 2027 and up to €1000 in 2028.

But for workers, another question is becoming more and more important – not how many euros are written on the payroll, but how many can actually be bought with them.

From 1 April 2026, the legal minimum wage in Greece is €920 gross. This confirms Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

During his speech at the 90th ΔΕΘ, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis outlined the next stage: in April 2027, the minimum wage should exceed €950and in 2028 – to achieve €1000 gross.

Athens News has already examined in detail the entire package of measures announced in Thessaloniki in the material “Mitsotakis on ΔΕΘ: a complete analysis of 30 measures – to whom, how many and when”.

From €920 to €950+ – there is an increase, but it’s small

If we take only the minimum announced target, the transition from the current €920 to €950 represents an increase of only €30 gross per month.

Even if the actual amount in April 2027 turns out to be slightly higher than €950, we are still talking about a relatively small increase, especially against the backdrop of household spending.

Economic edition Οικονομικός Ταχυδρόμος draws attention to precisely this problem: formally, wages are rising, but the real improvement in the standard of living depends on what happens to prices at the time of the increase.

Inflation is already higher than the rate of future increase

According to ΕΛΣΤΑΤannual inflation in July 2026 was 3.4%.

At the same time, the average price increase over the past 12 months reached 3.3%.

In other words, if this rate continues, a significant portion of the nominal increase in the minimum wage could be absorbed by the overall increase in the cost of living before the worker even sees the new amount on his payroll.

“Athens News” has already shown this problem with real numbers in the material “The minimum wage has increased to 920 euros, but Greek residents have become poorer than in 2009”.

The most difficult item is housing

For a low-wage worker, the main blow remains not the abstract inflation index, but the cost of rent.

In our current directory “Cost of Living in Greece in 2026” We have calculated in detail how much housing, food, transportation, electricity and other basic expenses cost today.

We also analyzed the rental market separately: in a number of areas of Attica, the asking price of housing has already reached levels that are practically incompatible with the minimum wage. More details in the material “Housing rent in Greece is becoming more expensive: where prices have reached €22 per square meter”.

Products and energy also do not stand still

According to ΕΛΣΤΑΤ In July, in monthly terms, food products on average fell slightly in price, but certain categories – pork, cheese and eggs – continued to rise in price.

At the same time, housing costs have increased: rent and electricity remain among the factors supporting inflation.

Transportation costs, particularly gasoline and diesel, also increased compared to June.

Therefore, for a person with a minimum wage, even small positive statistics on individual products change little the overall picture of expenses.

€1000 in 2028 is a psychological figure

The €1000 target looks politically stronger.

But even this amount is grossthat is, not equal to the money that the employee receives in his hands.

Moreover, the value of €1,000 in 2028 will be completely different than the value of €1,000 today.

That is why real purchasing power will depend not so much on a nice round number, but on the accumulated inflation over the next year and a half.

From 2028, salaries will be calculated by the formula

Another important change must occur with January 1, 2028.

The minimum wage is planned to be determined using an automatic mechanism that will take into account two main indicators:

• inflation;
• labor productivity.

Moreover, when calculating inflation, special attention is expected to be paid to the increase in the cost of living for 20% of households with the lowest incomessince food, housing and energy take up a much larger share of their budget.

There is also a protective clause: the minimum wage under the new system should not be reduced nominally even in the event of an economic downturn.

Employees’ contributions will be slightly reduced

From 2027, the government also promises to reduce insurance premiums by 0.5 percentage points.

The reduction will be divided equally: 0.25 points for the employer and the same for the employee.

This will increase your net income slightly, but alone will not offset the rising costs of housing, food, and energy.

The main issue is not wages, but purchasing power

The government can deliver on its promise and actually raise the minimum wage to €1,000.

But the political effect of this measure will depend on what workers see by then after paying rent, electricity, groceries and transportation.

Today the problem is already clearly visible: the minimum wage has risen to €920, but this has not eliminated the feeling of a decline in living standards for many households.

That is why the main economic indicator for workers in the coming years is not the nominal minimum wage, but real disposable income after mandatory expenses.

ΕΛΣΤΑΤ will publish new official inflation data for August September 9. Therefore, it makes sense to update this material after the release of a new price index.

We also publish current data on salaries, prices and government measures in Telegram channel of Athens News.

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