The Interprofessional Minimum Wage rises by 3.1% in 2026, reaching 1,425 euros gross per month in 12 payments. It is the third lowest increase in the EU, behind only France and Luxembourg, according to Eurofound.
The Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI) in Spain has increased by 3.1% in 2026, reaching 1,425 euros gross per month in 12 payments. This is the third lowest increase among the 22 countries in the European Union with a national minimum wage, according to the annual report Minimum Wages in 2026 by Eurofound, the European agency for living and working conditions, as reported by gndiario.com.
Only France (1.2%) and Luxembourg (2.5%) have implemented smaller increases. Poland would also be in this group if its wage were measured in local currency rather than euros. On the opposite end, Hungary leads the increases with 18.6%, followed by Slovenia (16%), Bulgaria (12.6%), Slovakia (12.1%), Czech Republic (11.9%) and Lithuania (11.1%).
Other countries have also applied double-digit or near double-digit increases: Cyprus (8.8%), Germany (8.4%), Croatia (8.2%) and Romania (7%). In the case of Romania, the update was applied from July and the increase fell below inflation.
Despite the moderate rise, Spain maintains the eighth highest SMI in the EU, at 1,425 euros. Of the seven countries with minimum wages higher than Spain's, five have increased more than Spain: Slovenia, Germany, Ireland (4.8%), Netherlands (4.6%) and Belgium (4%).
The report also analyses the evolution since the pandemic. Last year, the minimum wage gained purchasing power in all the countries analysed except Romania. Eurofound classifies the gains into four groups: substantial, moderate, small or loss. Spain falls into the small gains block, just ahead of Poland and Romania. In terms of taxation, Spain is among the countries where the minimum wage bears the least tax burden: it does not pay income tax and only contributes to social security. Only Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg apply a lower tax burden on this income.
The ten-year perspective changes the diagnosis. Spain is the tenth country in the EU where the SMI has grown the most in real terms, with an increase of over 40%, surpassing Germany and France. Italy does not have a national minimum wage.
This sustained growth has made the SMI increasingly significant in the Spanish labour market. In 2023, 10% of workers earned the SMI, compared to just over 4% in 2015. It is the fourth highest percentage in the EU, behind only Portugal, Slovakia and Poland.
With data up to 2024, Eurofound places the Spanish SMI at 50% of the median wage. Only Portugal, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Greece show a higher proportion.
"The minimum wage has grown more than that of the working population in general. This has occurred in most member states and particularly in Spain, Greece and Germany," summarises the Eurofound report.
The report was published this year and analyses the minimum wages of the 22 EU countries that have this figure. The data on purchasing power and the percentage of covered workers correspond to previous years, up to 2023 and 2024.
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