Only 1.5 per cent on minimum wage

Malta has the second lowest number of workers on the minimum wage in the European Union, according to new statistics published yesterday by Eurostat, the EU's statistical arm.

Eurostat said that in 2005, the number of Maltese workers receiving only the statutory minimum wage for their work stood at 1.5 per cent of all the people employed. The only other member state in a better situation is Spain where only 0.8 per cent of workers are on the minimum wage.

However, the minimum wage in Malta is even better than that of Spain when it comes to purchasing power. According to Eurostat, the Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) - an artificial common reference currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries - of Malta's minimum wage last January stood at 805 while in Spain it was 724.

The minimum wage in Malta last January stood at Lm251 monthly, equivalent to €585.

Eurostat said that the number of people receiving a minimum wage was highest in France at 16.8 per cent followed by Bulgaria at 16 per cent.

Ivan Camilleri in Brussels