Germany’s Minimum Wage to Rise Again: At Least €14.60 per Hour from January 2027
30.10.2026
Germany’s statutory minimum wage will increase again. From 1 January 2027, employers will be required to pay their employees at least €14.60 gross per hour.
The current minimum wage is €13.90 gross per hour. Employees earning the minimum wage will therefore receive an additional 70 cents per hour—an increase of just over five per cent.
The change will also affect Minijobs: the monthly earnings limit will rise from the current €603 to €633.
What is the current minimum wage?
Germany increased its statutory minimum wage from €12.82 to €13.90 gross per hour on 1 January 2026.
The next increase has already been approved. From 1 January 2027, the statutory minimum wage will be €14.60 gross per hour.
This represents an increase of 70 cents compared with 2026 and a total increase of €1.78 per hour compared with the minimum wage that applied in 2025.
It is important to remember that this is a gross amount. The amount employees actually receive in their bank accounts depends on factors such as their tax class, social security contributions, health insurance and family situation.
How much more will employees earn?
A full-time employee working approximately 40 hours per week could earn around €121 gross more per month as a result of the 70-cent increase.
Over a full year, this would amount to approximately €1,450 gross more, provided the number of working hours remains unchanged.
Example calculation based on approximately 173 working hours per month:
Minimum wageApproximate gross earnings€13.90 in 2026€2,405 per month€14.60 from 2027€2,527 per monthDifferenceAround €121 per month
This calculation is only an estimate. Actual monthly earnings depend on contracted working hours, the number of working days, public holidays, bonuses and possible overtime.
The Minijob earnings limit is also changing
The minimum wage increase will automatically affect employees with a Minijob.
During 2026, the average monthly earnings limit for a Minijob is €603. From 1 January 2027, it will rise to €633 per month.
The Minijob earnings limit is linked to the statutory minimum wage. This is intended to prevent Minijob employees from having to significantly reduce their working hours whenever the hourly minimum wage increases.
A person earning the statutory minimum wage will still be able to work approximately 43 hours per month without exceeding the Minijob limit.
If an employee regularly earns more than the permitted limit, the employment relationship may be classified as a Midijob, which is subject to social security contributions.
Who is entitled to the minimum wage?
As a general rule, Germany’s statutory minimum wage applies to all adult employees, regardless of their nationality or country of origin.
This means that workers from the Balkans—including citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia and other countries—have the same rights.
The statutory minimum wage applies to:
full-time employees;
part-time employees;
Minijob employees;
seasonal workers;
foreign workers employed in Germany;
certain interns.
An employee’s nationality, type of residence permit or level of German does not give an employer the right to pay less than the statutory minimum wage.
Who is exempt from the general minimum wage?
There are certain exceptions to Germany’s general minimum wage rules.
The statutory minimum wage does not generally apply to:
people under the age of 18 who have not completed vocational training;
apprentices in relation to their training allowance;
people completing compulsory internships;
certain voluntary internships lasting no longer than three months;
volunteers;
self-employed people;
long-term unemployed people during the first six months after returning to employment, provided the legal requirements are met.
Some industries have separate and higher sector-specific minimum wages. These may apply in construction, care work, building cleaning, electrical trades and other sectors.
If a collective agreement or special regulation provides for a higher hourly wage, the employer must pay the higher amount.
What should employees check?
Employees who currently receive less than €14.60 gross per hour should check whether their employer correctly adjusts their pay from January 2027.
It is particularly important to keep personal records of:
the beginning and end of each working day;
breaks;
the total number of hours worked;
night work;
work on Sundays and public holidays;
overtime;
payslips received.
Employers are not allowed to avoid the minimum wage increase by recording fewer hours than an employee actually worked.
Employees should therefore carefully check their payslip for January 2027.
What if an employer does not pay the minimum wage?
Affected employees can first ask their employer in writing to correct the payslip and pay the outstanding amount.
If the employer refuses, employees can contact a trade union, an employment advice centre, a specialist labour lawyer or the German customs authority’s Financial Control of Undeclared Work unit—Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs also operates a minimum wage hotline at 030 60 28 00 28.
Employees should act promptly, as employment contracts or collective agreements may contain deadlines by which unpaid wage claims must be submitted.
Higher wages, but living costs remain high
The minimum wage increase is good news for low-paid employees. However, a higher gross wage does not automatically mean that living standards will improve by the same amount.
Rent, energy, food, insurance and other everyday expenses continue to place pressure on many households in Germany.
The extent to which employees genuinely benefit from the increase will also depend on inflation, taxes, social security contributions and future price developments.
The most important point is that, from 1 January 2027, employers must generally pay at least €14.60 gross for every hour worked, unless a legally defined exception applies.
The most important changes at a glance
Statutory minimum wage in 2026: €13.90 gross per hour
New minimum wage from 1 January 2027: €14.60 gross per hour
Increase: €0.70 per hour
Minijob earnings limit in 2026: €603 per month
Minijob earnings limit from January 2027: €633 per month
The change applies automatically—a new employment contract is not required
