Until Sunday, June 30, the minimum monthly wage in Chile will be $460,000. Starting Monday, July 1, the base salary will increase to $500,000, which represents an increase of $40,000.
This last adjustment to the minimum income has been implemented gradually since May 2023, when it was increased from $410,000 to $440,000. Later, in September, it was raised to $460,000 following negotiations between the Government and the Central Unitary Workers’ Union (CUT).
With the minimum wage increasing to $500,000 As of July 2024, the CUT and the Executive have begun talks for the next adjustment.
Know when and how much it could rise again
As has been reported, The union would seek to achieve a basic salary of $630,000 for March 2026, at the end of Gabriel Boric’s government. If materialized, this it would represent a 26% increase over the current $500,000.
How many people earn the minimum wage in Chile
A study by the SOL Foundation based on data from the Casen 2022 survey, Half of the workers in Chile earn less than $500,000 net.
Gonzalo Durán, researcher at the SOL Foundation, comments that The average monthly labor income of employed people in Chile was $729,301 net in 2022. However, the median, which is the income threshold for the bottom 50% of workers, stands at $500,000 net. This is equivalent to about two-thirds of the average income, highlighting the high levels of inequality in the country.
According to the Supplementary Income Survey (ESI) 2022, reported by Diario Financiero, The income bracket of $400,000 to $500,000 concentrated 17.3% of employed people. On the other hand, the brackets of $300,000 to $400,000 represented 12.5%, while the bracket of more than $500,000 covered 11.1% of respondents.
