Minimum gross hourly wages and salaries in Poland 2017-2023

The minimum gross wage per hour in Poland as of January 2023 amounted to 22.8 zloty. As of July 2023, the minimum hourly wage will increase to 23.5 zloty gross, which was an increase of 3.8 zloty compared to the previous year. The average gross remuneration in Poland reached 5748.24 zloty in 2020. The average hourly gross wage amounted to 33.24 zloty.

Purchasing power standards (PPS) in the CEE region

From 2009 to 2021, almost every country except Slovakia experienced increased GDP per capita in purchasing power standards. For example, Czechia's GDP per capita amounted to 92 PPS last year, reaching the highest level among Central and Eastern European countries but lower than the EU average. A similar situation occurred in Poland, one of the countries experiencing an increase in GDP per capita, amounting to 76 PPS. On the other hand, the highest actual individual consumption per capita expressed in purchasing power standards in the CEE region was recorder in Lithuania, Slovenia, and Czechia. However, all Central and Eastern European countries reached actual individual consumption per capita below the EU average.

Inflation’s effect on Poles

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has increased drastically. That caused people to look at their expenditure of salaries more responsibly but also made them want to earn more. From 2021 to 2022, a fair share of Poles felt that food prices and fuel increased the most over the year. In 2022, due to the rising of some products and services in recent months in Poland, 75 percent of people bought less and looked for cheaper products during daily shopping. Moreover, around 60 percent of Poles gave up higher expenses to put them off for later. Inflation causes people to look for cheaper products. However, only about 25 percent of Poles had higher trust in the promotions due to inflation.