The National Minimum Wage for a full-time worker in Ireland increased 5.4% to €1,719 last year, the fifth-highest level in 67 countries surveyed by Picodi.com.

Ireland ranked after Luxembourg (€2,098), Australia (€1,980), the Netherlands (€1,858), and New Zealand (€1,830), but ahead of large economies such as the UK (€1,670), Germany (€1,563), and the US (€1,518).

In Argentina (€328) and Turkey (€448), the minimum net wage for a full-time worker at least doubled while still remaining low, and there were also increases of more than a fifth in Moldova (€176), Latvia (€544), Malaysia (€284), Pakistan (€109), Romania (€386) and Belarus (€185).

In seven countries (Spain, Hong Kong, Israel, Montenegro, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia), the minimum full-time wage was unchanged.

Picodi created a shopping basket of eight products (bread, milk, eggs, rice, cheese, meat, fruits and vegetables) to measure how much basic food staples cost compared to the minimum wage.

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In Ireland, the price of the basket rose 6.9% last year, coming to 7.4% of the minimum net full-time wage, up from 7.3% in 2021, and the second-best ratio behind the UK (6.5%) and ahead of Australia (7.7%), New Zealand (8.3%), Germany (8.9%) and the US (12.5%).

Nigeria had the least affordable basket at 160.4% of wages. In Asia-Pacific countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, basic food costs over half of the minimum income.

(Pic: Getty Images)