Portugal’s minimum salary hiked to €820 in 2024

In what Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa called the highest increase in Portugal’s budgetary history, the government will raise the minimum wage to €820 from January.

The move adds an extra €60 into the pay packets of Portuguese employees who have seen the real worth of their wages eroded by inflation and the energy costs.
The salaries hike was agreed with social partners but did not get the agreement of he Portuguese business confederation CIP or the union CGTP.
Private sector salaries will increase 5% in 2024 and not the 4.8% initially planned.
The agreement was made on Saturday, just three days before the State Budget 2024 is to be handed to parliament tomorrow (October 10).
The government rejected proposals from the CIP for the voluntary payment of a 15th month salary. At present there are two: a Christmas extra salary and one in August for the annual summer holidays.
The presentation of the Medium Term Increase Agreement on Incomes, Salaries and Competitiveness was made on Saturday in the presence of the Employment and Social Security Minister Ana Mendes Godinho, the Secretary of State for Employment, Miguel Fontes, and the Secretary of State for Social Security, Gabriel Bastos at 12 noon at the ministry building in Praça de Londres in Lisbon on Saturday.
António Costa praised social partners by saying: With little marketing, they decided to reach an agreement with the government. This agreement will enable higher salaries than the ones we had agreed upon a year ago. It is the largest annual increase in the minimum wage ever achieved”.

Photo: LUSA: FILIPE AMORIM