International Labour Organization

With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. Data refer to the minimum monthly earnings of all employees as of December 31st of each year. Minimum wages are not reported for countries for which collective bargaining is in place for minimum wages. In cases where a national minimum wage is not mandated, the minimum wage in place in the capital or major city is used. In some cases, an average of multiple regional minimum wages is used. In countries where the minimum wage is set at the sectoral level or occupational level, the minimum wage for manufacturing or unskilled workers is generally applied. This is a harmonized series: (1) data reported as hourly, weekly, and yearly are converted to monthly, using data on average weekly hours if available; and (2) data are converted to U.S. dollars as the common currency, using exchange rates or purchasing power parity (PPP) rates rates for private consumption expenditures. The latter series allows for international comparisons by taking account of the differences in relative prices between countries. For more information, refer to the Wages and Working Time Statistics (COND) database description.