August 27, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka has been placed 120th out of 130 countries in a global comparison of minimum wages, with its monthly wage value estimated at around US$200 after adjusting for differences in purchasing power.
The comparison, published by Visual Capitalist using 2024 data from the International Labour Organization, seeks to put national minimum wages on a more comparable footing by applying purchasing power parity (PPP). Rather than simply converting wages into US dollars, the method considers how much workers can actually afford to buy in their respective economies.
Switzerland tops the international table with a PPP-adjusted monthly minimum wage of US$3,804. However, the country does not operate a single nationwide minimum wage, with wage requirements varying by canton and sector.
Germany follows at US$2,928 a month, while the United Kingdom and Netherlands record US$2,902 and US$2,876 respectively. Australia rounds out the top five at US$2,819.
Belgium, Iceland and New Zealand occupy the next three positions, with adjusted monthly figures of US$2,752, US$2,730 and US$2,673. France and Ireland complete the top 10, at US$2,465 and US$2,433 respectively.
South Korea is the highest-ranked Asian country, coming 11th worldwide with a PPP-adjusted figure of US$2,362. Japan is also among the stronger performers, ranking 16th at US$1,839.
The United States is placed 25th, with a comparable monthly figure of US$1,257. The calculation is based on the federal minimum wage of US$7.25 an hour, a rate that has not changed since 2009, although several states and local authorities have introduced substantially higher minimum wages.
Sri Lanka’s position is particularly weak when compared with other South Asian economies. Pakistan ranks 68th with an adjusted figure of US$570, followed by Nepal at 78th with US$490. Bangladesh is 89th at US$379, while India ranks 111th at US$233.
At US$200, Sri Lanka therefore sits below each of these regional counterparts and near the bottom of the international ranking. Only 10 countries record lower figures: Niger, Bhutan, Haiti, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia.
The ranking should not be interpreted as a direct comparison of workers’ take-home pay in US dollar terms. PPP adjustments are designed to show the relative purchasing power of wages, taking account of differences in the cost of goods and services between countries. The figures also leave out factors such as taxation, employer benefits and variations in living costs within individual countries.
The results nevertheless underline the considerable gap between Sri Lanka’s minimum wage purchasing power and that of many developed economies, while also highlighting the disparity within South Asia.
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