Germany: the minimum hourly wage will increase to 12 euros gross in October

The measure will improve the remuneration of nearly 6.2 million employees out of a total of 41.5 million and an active population of 45.2 million people in Germany at the end of 2021. Getty Images - Luis Alvarez

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The German government adopted a bill on Wednesday providing for the increase of the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour in October.

Six million employees are affected by one of the key measures announced by the new Chancellor.

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Throughout his campaign, Olaf Scholz had promised to quickly raise the minimum wage to 12 euros instead of 9.82 euros at present, recalls our correspondent in Berlin, 

On Wednesday, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil assured that the increase in the hourly minimum will be done in two stages: 10.45 euros on July 1 and 12 euros on October 1.

Ten percent of German employees, or more than 6 million people, are concerned, in particular “

”, underlines the minister.

Inflation risk

The unions estimate that the measure will boost purchasing power by nearly 5 billion additional euros.

But the increase in the minimum wage could also fuel

, which has already reached a record high of around 5% in the country at the end of 2021. "

", estimates the president of the chamber of farmers,

For a long time, Germany was an exception in Europe, with the late establishment of a

imposed in 2014 on former Chancellor Angela Merkel by her social democratic coalition partner.  

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