Poland is one of the worst paid nations in Europe, with Greeks taking home almost twice as much monthly as Poles.
According to Eurostat, the average Polish wage is EUR 865, while the highest average monthly salary in the EU is in Luxembourg with EUR 4,663, almost 5.5-fold more.
In the Czech Republic the average is EUR 970 and in crisis-hit Greece it is almost two-fold higher at EUR 1,541. In Germany it is EUR 2,995, in the UK 3,160 and in Ireland 3,949.
Analysis by the Think of the Future Foundation suggests that the most common gross salary in Poland is less than PLN 2,200 per month.
In the first half 2015 a drop in population was observed in 12 out of 16 provinces and is especially strong among young Poles, except in the Mazowieckie region.
With elections in October the main contenders have started talking recently about the issue of low pay, emigration and the minumum wage.
A Committee of the Council of Ministers in June proposed raising the minimum wage by PLN 100 (EUR 24) per month to PLN 1,850 (EUR 445), in line with the proposals of trade unions. The Employers’ Lewiatan Confederation had previously suggested a rise to PLN 1,800. Public administration wages have been frozen since the start of 2010.
The government expects that in 2016 GDP growth will have increased by 0.4 percentage points to 3.8%, while unemployment will have fallen to 7.6%.
