Minimum wage to rise by 13.9%

The German minimum wage commission has proposed that the country’s minimum wage should rise from the current €12.82 (£11.10) an hour to €13.90 (£12.03) in January 2026 and €14.60 (£12.64) in January 2027. The government has said that it will implement this recommendation.

Although this is a 13.9% increase over two years, at a time when inflation is at 2.0% (June 2025), the increase is less than the €15.00 (£12.99) an hour the unions were hoping for from next year.

The unions argued that an increase to €15.00 an hour was necessary to meet Germany’s obligations under the EU minimum wage directive, which puts forward 60% of the gross median wage as an indicator of an “adequate” minimum wage.

However, with some employers calling for the rate to be frozen, the compromise from the minimum wage commission falls short of this.