Malta and the US have similar levels of minimum wages

According to an economic exercise conducted by Eurostat, the EU's statistical arm, comparing the level of statutory minimum wages in the EU and the US, Malta's current level of minimum wage is very similar to the level minimum wage earners in the US are pocketing.

According to the statistics, Malta's minimum wage last July stood at €612 a month while in the US was slightly higher at €652 a month.

Though this may be consoling news for Maltese minimum wage earners, Malta does not rank among the best EU countries in this area.

In fact, a minimum wage earner in Luxembourg is currently earning almost three times as much as his Maltese counterpart. At the same time, Malta's least paid workers are still being paid more than five times the minimum wage in Bulgaria.

The EU member states with the highest statutory minimum wages currently are Luxembourg (€1,610), Ireland (€1,462), The Netherlands (€1,357), Belgium (€1,336) and France (€1,321).

On the other side of the scale, Bulgaria (€112), Romania (€137) and Latvia (€228) have the lowest minimum wages. So far the EU does not impose statutory minimum wage legislation in its member states so much so that seven member states, including the Scandinavian countries, do not have a set minimum wage.

Minimum wage legislation in Malta was introduced in 1974. Eurostat said that since 2000, the minimum wage in Malta increased by €105 a month or more than €157 a year.