Minimum Wage Germany 2027: €14.60 an Hour and What It Means
Quick answer: Germany's statutory minimum wage rises to €14.60 gross per hour on 1 January 2027, up from €13.90 in 2026. The rate is fixed by the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance of 5 November 2025. The monthly earnings limit for minijobs rises at the same time, from €603 to €633.
Key takeaways
From 1 January 2027, employers in Germany must pay at least €14.60 gross for every hour worked, a binding rate already set in law.
The two-step rise from €12.82 in 2025 adds up to an increase of 13.88% according to the federal government.
Minijob workers may earn up to €633 a month from 2027, because the limit is tied to roughly ten hours a week at the minimum wage.
Apprentices, the self-employed and volunteers are among the groups the minimum wage does not cover.
Measured in purchasing power, Eurostat ranked Germany's minimum wage the highest in the EU on 1 July 2026.
Last updated: 3 October 2026
The minimum wage Germany 2027 rate is already settled: from 1 January 2027 no employee in Germany may be paid less than €14.60 gross per hour. That is 70 cents more than the €13.90 floor that has applied since 1 January 2026. With under three months to go, workers, minijob holders and people planning a move to Germany for work should check what the change means for their pay.
What is the minimum wage in Germany in 2027?
It is €14.60 gross per hour from 1 January 2027. The figure is written into the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung, MiLoV5), signed on 5 November 2025, so it does not need any further vote to take effect.
The ordinance set two steps at once. The list below shows how the hourly floor and the linked minijob ceiling have moved.
2025: minimum wage €12.82 gross per hour; minijob limit €556 a month
1 January 2026: minimum wage €13.90 gross per hour; minijob limit €603 a month
1 January 2027: minimum wage €14.60 gross per hour; minijob limit €633 a month
Across both steps, the German federal government (Bundesregierung) puts the total rise at 13.88%. It says more than six million people gain from the increase, namely everyone who had been earning less than €13.90 an hour.
Minimum wage Germany 2027: how much is it per month?
A full-time worker on a 38.8-hour week would earn about €2,460 gross a month at €14.60 an hour (our calculation), though the exact figure depends on contracted hours. Germany sets its minimum wage per hour, not per month, so your monthly figure is simply your paid hours multiplied by the rate.
To compare countries, the European statistical office (Eurostat) converts Germany's hourly rate into a monthly one using 38.8 hours a week multiplied by 4.345 weeks a month. Applying that formula to €14.60 gives €2,461 gross a month (our calculation); on the 2026 rate of €13.90 the same formula gives €2,343.
These are gross figures. What reaches your bank account depends on income tax, social security contributions and your personal circumstances, so use the minimum wage calculator (Mindestlohnrechner) from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) to estimate your own case.
Who is covered by the minimum wage in Germany, and who is exempt?
The federal government says the statutory minimum wage applies in principle to every employee in Germany. That includes minijob workers.
There are exceptions. The government names these examples:
Apprentices (Auszubildende) in vocational training;
Self-employed people, who are not employees;
Volunteers in honorary roles (Ehrenamt).
This is national German law, not an EU-wide rate.
What changes for minijobs and midijobs in 2027?
The minijob earnings limit rises to €633 a month on 1 January 2027. Since 2022 the ceiling has been linked to the minimum wage so that a minijob can still cover about ten hours of work a week whenever the hourly rate goes up.
The German Pension Insurance for the Rhineland (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Rheinland) says around 6.9 million people in Germany hold a minijob. For someone already paid exactly the minimum wage, the higher ceiling simply absorbs the higher hourly rate, so the number of hours they can work stays about the same.
Midijobs sit just above the minijob band and carry reduced employee social security contributions. In 2026 that transition zone runs from €603.01 to €2,000 a month. From 1 January 2027 it starts at €633.01, with the upper edge staying at €2,000.
How does Germany's minimum wage compare with the rest of the EU?
Germany belongs to the top group of EU countries, and in purchasing-power terms it ranks first, even before the minimum wage Germany 2027 increase takes effect. On 1 July 2026, Eurostat recorded monthly minimum wages from €620 in Bulgaria to €2,771 in Luxembourg.
Above €1,500 a month: Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Purchasing Power Standards (PPS): after adjusting for price levels, Germany led the EU at PPS 2,164.
No national minimum wage: Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden, where pay floors come from collective agreements instead. No EFTA country, Switzerland included, has one either.
The PPS ranking matters for job seekers comparing offers across Europe, because it shows what the pay floor buys once local prices are factored in. Eurostat also placed Germany, in 2024 data, among the countries whose minimum wage sat between 50% and 60% of median gross earnings.
How was the 2027 rate decided?
An independent Minimum Wage Commission (Mindestlohnkommission) proposed the minimum wage Germany 2027 rate in June 2025, and the government adopted the proposal by ordinance. The commission has a chair, three employer and three trade union members, plus two advisory members from academia.
It reviews the rate every two years. In its assessment it weighs adequate protection for workers, fair competition and the risk to jobs, and it looks at collectively agreed pay trends and the EU reference value of 60% of the median wage of full-time employees. The government expects no rise in unemployment and says the two-step increase helps cushion the burden on employers.
What this means for you
If you work in Germany, or plan to, the minimum wage Germany 2027 rate gives you a clear legal floor to check against. Use this checklist before January:
Check your January 2027 payslip: your gross hourly pay must be at least €14.60.
If you hold a minijob, confirm your regular monthly earnings stay at or below €633.
When comparing job offers in Germany, convert any monthly salary into an hourly rate to make sure it clears the legal minimum.
Remember the figures are gross; budget using an estimate of your net pay.
Common mistakes to avoid
Treating €14.60 as a take-home figure rather than gross pay.
Assuming the German rate applies elsewhere in the EU; each country sets its own rules.
Assuming an apprenticeship must pay the statutory minimum wage; apprentices are excluded from it.
Frequently asked questions
What will the minimum wage be in Germany in 2027?
It will be €14.60 gross per hour from 1 January 2027. The rate is set by the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance of 5 November 2025, which also fixed the 2026 rate of €13.90.
How much is the minimum wage in Germany per month?
Germany sets its minimum wage per hour, so monthly pay depends on your hours. At €14.60, full-time work comes to about €2,461 gross a month using Eurostat's conversion of 38.8 hours a week × 4.345 weeks (our calculation).
Does the German minimum wage apply to minijobs?
Yes. Minijob workers must also receive at least the statutory hourly rate. From 1 January 2027 they may earn up to €633 a month on average while keeping minijob status.
Who does not get the minimum wage in Germany?
The federal government lists apprentices, self-employed people and volunteers as examples of groups not covered. In principle, every other employee in Germany is entitled to it, minijob workers included.
Which EU country has the highest minimum wage?
In euro terms, Luxembourg had the highest monthly minimum wage on 1 July 2026, at €2,771, according to Eurostat. After adjusting for price levels, Germany ranked first at PPS 2,164.
Is the German minimum wage an EU-wide rule?
No. It is national German law that applies to work done in Germany. Each EU country sets its own minimum wage, and five member states (Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden) have no national minimum wage at all.
Sources
Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung (MiLoV5), gesetze-im-internet.de
Deutsche Rentenversicherung Rheinland: Minijob-Verdienstgrenze steigt
This article was compiled by Jobsiz from the sources listed above, with AI-assisted writing and automated fact-checking. Published 3 October 2026. We update stories when new verified information becomes available.