The minimum wage in Spain was €1,167 in 2022, including the proportional part of supplementary payments, 65% higher than in 2016, according to the Adecco Group Institute's Labour Market Report.
Adecco's research service highlighted that €1,167 is similar to the United States' minimum wage, even though the per capita GDP of the North American country is 2.5 times higher than that of Spain.
Adecco highlights that there is a wide range of situations in Europe, from eight countries with no legal minimum wage (Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland) to six others where the legal minimum wage exceeds €1,700 per month.
"Now that inflation is putting downward pressure on the purchasing power of wages (the purchasing power of wages in 2022 was equal to that of 1996) and that the wage agreement between employers and trade unions is closed for the next three years, it is worth noting the efforts to compensate the lowest incomes: in Spain, including the proportional part of the supplementary payments, the minimum wage in 2022 was €1,167," highlighted Javier Blasco, director of the Adecco Group Institute.
According to Adecco's 2022 Report, although registered unemployment closed last year below 3 million, which had not happened since 2008, for the 14th consecutive year, Spain had the highest unemployment rate in the European Union.
The report found that 2022 recorded the highest employment level since 2008, with the employment rate reaching 51.1%. Social Security enrolment set a new all-time high for the second year, with more than 20 million contributors for the first time.
"In 2022, the economy ended the "easy" stage of recovery after the collapse caused by the pandemic in 2020, and in 2023, it entered a stage of expected slower growth, although the evolution of the first four months is - positively - shattering forecasts. However, the last stretch of 2022 brought two worrying trends: a fall in industrial production and the number of companies," said Blasco.
The director of the Adecco Research Centre pointed out that, in general terms, job creation remains "at acceptable levels" given the difficult economic context. "However, this increase in employment is not enough to stop problems appearing in specific groups, such as the self-employed, who are suffering a decline, or those looking for their first job, who are increasing", warned Blasco.
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