Rachel Reeves, the new chancellor of the exchequer in the U.K., has said that she wants to raise the national minimum wage by 6.7% to £12.21 ($15.84) an hour.
In a statement, the finance minister for the Labour Party said that the pay rise will give a £1,400 pay boost to “millions of workers” when it starts in April 2025, which is the beginning of the U.K.’s fiscal year.
With this raise, the U.K.’s national minimum wage will be one of the highest in the world, higher than places like France and Germany that have similar minimum wages.
Along with the pay rise, the minimum wage for 18–20-year-olds will go up by 10%, from £8.60 to £10 an hour. This is what the Low Pay Commission said should happen.
The Low Pay Commission is a separate group that was set up in 1997 to give the U.K. government advice on problems related to the national minimum wage.
Today, the chancellor decided to raise the minimum wage. This comes just as Britain’s new Labour Party government is about to present its first budget since winning the July election.
In the budget on Wednesday, Reeves is likely to lay out a plan for a number of tax hikes that will help the U.K.’s state finances.
| Country | Minimum wage, per hour, in U.S. dollars |
| Luxembourg | $16.10 |
| Australia | $15.85 |
| Netherlands | $14.37 |
| New Zealand | $13.86 |
| Ireland | $13.76 |
| Belgium | $13.61 |
| Germany | $13.44 |
| France | $12.62 |
| Canada | $12.42 |
| Spain | $9.61 |
| Israel | $8.72 |
| South Korea | $7.28 |
| Japan | $6.28 |
| United Kingdom (April 2025) | $15.84 |
| United States | $7.25 – $17.50 |
With the pay rise, the U.K.’s national minimum wage will be much higher than the minimum wages set by the governments of big economies like the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Japan.
People in the U.S. are only paid $7.25 an hour at the federal level, even though most state governments require businesses to pay their workers more per hour.
The Congressional Research Service says that 30 U.S. states have localised minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum. West Virginia’s is the lowest at $8.75 an hour, and Washington, D.C.’s is the highest at $17.50 an hour.
Luxembourg’s minimum wage of €14.86 ($16.10) an hour is the highest in the world right now. Australia’s minimum wage of AU$24.10 ($15.85) an hour is the next highest.
