Albania is the country with the lowest minimum wage in Europe, according to a Eurostat last data made public on Friday referring to the third quarter of 2020. At 210 euros, the Albanian minimum wage is lower than in Serbia (344 euros), Montenegro (331 euros) and Macedonia (282 euros, as of 2018). 

From January 1, the minimum wage in the country has increased to 30,000 ALL, or about 240 euro, but still remains the lowest in Europe. Raising the minimum wage has been at the center of political parties' election campaigns, with businesses often complaining that this is an additional cost to them, as long as it is forced and does not come from increased productivity.

As of January 2021, ten member states, east of the EU, had minimum wages below €700 per month: Bulgaria (€332), Hungary (€442), Romania (€458), Latvia (€500), Croatia (€563), Czech Republic (€579), Estonia (€584), Poland (€614), Slovakia (€623) and Lithuania (€642). Five other member states, mainly in the south of the EU, minimum wages ranged from €700 and just over €1,100 per month: Greece (€758), Portugal (€776), Malta (€785), Slovenia (€1,024) and Spain (€1,108). The other six member states, all in the west and north of the EU, the minimum wages were over €1,500 per month: France (€1,555), Germany (€1,614), Belgium (€1,626), the Netherlands (€1,685), Ireland (€1,724) and Luxembourg (€2,202).