Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced a 23% minimum wage hike, the biggest since the 1980’s.
In an address to the nation, Petro said that the increase from $380 (COP1,425,500) to $466 (COP1,750,905) sought to further boost the popular economy.
Those who also receive travel expenses will be receiving $533,52 (COP2 million) in January 2026, said the president.
Petro stressed that his government has increased the minimum wage by 36% after inflation since taking office in August 2022.
This significant rise is meant to secure that those earning minimum wage will be receiving what is calculated to be a living wage, said the president.
According to Petro, the hike will directly benefit the 15% of workers who earn minimum wage and indirectly benefit the economy in lower class communities where these people live.
Insults will fly, they will say we are wrong, they will say the economy will grind to a halt, they will say many employees will lose their jobs. So far, up to this point, we’ve had the lowest unemployment rate of the century, and we are lifting people out of poverty with the lowest poverty rates of the century. And I hope that by 2026, the drop in unemployment and poverty will be even greater.
President Gustavo Petro
The government set next year’s minimum wage increase without the consent of employers, who abandoned negotiations in December when it became clear that their proposal to increase wags by only 6% was not going to be taken seriously.
Employer associations rejected the wage hike and said that many businesses would be forced to reorganize their work force and possibly fire employees to make ends meet.
Labor unions celebrated the decision.
“No government, at any time, dared to make an increase of this magnitude and nature to help workers and, in particular, to help close the huge gap that has historically accumulated in the country,” Fabio Arias of labor union CUT told newspaper El Espectador.
