Minimum wage in Hungary to reach EUR 573 next year

A forum of representatives from unions, employers and the government reached an agreement on Thursday on next year’s minimum wage rise, state secretary for employment policy Sándor Czomba announced at a press conference.

Under the agreement, the monthly minimum wage for unskilled labourers will rise by 16 percent to 232,000 forints (EUR 573), while the minimum wage for skilled workers climbs 14 percent to 296,400 forints (EUR 731) next year, he said.

Responding to a question from MTI, Czomba said all parties at the talks, including unions association MASZSZ, backed the deal. Czomba told MTI a government pledge not to raise the payroll tax next year was included in the deal.

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The government has paired payroll tax cuts with rises in the minimum wage for years, but signalled earlier that it couldn’t repeat the practice in 2023. The state secretary noted that the payroll tax had been scaled down from 28.5 percent to 13 percent between 2017 and 2022, driving wage growth.

He said unions and employers were asked to follow the example of the government and try to “stretch to the limit” during the difficult period at present. He added that the sides “did just that”. Czomba noted that around 730,000 people are paid the minimum wage for skilled workers, while 230,000 get the minimum wage for unskilled labourers.