This is what the minimum wage looks like around the world

Supporting low-wage earners is one of the keys to promoting inclusive growth, and minimum wages are a common if sometimes controversial way of doing it.

Of the 34 countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 26 have a minimum wage – 9 of which have been introduced since 1990.

But the rate varies dramatically, as shown in this chart looking at the rates in US dollars per hour after taxes, at purchasing power parity (which takes exchange rate anomalies into account).

WEF Agneda Blog

The figures – taken from a recent OECD report – show that Australia and Luxembourg come out on top with minimum wages of more than $9 an hour, while Latvia and Mexico trail on less than $2 an hour.

However the ranking would look quite different if each country’s minimum wage was compared to its median wage. In that case Turkey would be top, with its minimum standing at a little under 70% of the median. The United States would be near the bottom, at just 37% – marginally ahead of Mexico and the Czech Republic.

This article was first published by WEF Agenda Blog on June 30, 2015.

Author: Paul Muggeridge is Head of Content at Formative Content.