French minimum wage to increase in January 2026

France’s minimum wage - known as the Smic - is to increase by 1.18% on January 1, 2026. 

It will be the first increase to the minimum wage since November 2024, increasing the salary of a worker on a full-time (35 hour per week) contract from €1,426 net per month to €1,443. 

Around 2.2 million people, or 12.4% of employees in France, earn the minimum wage.

The amount is usually re-evaluated each January but former Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s decision to increase the minimum wage just prior to January 2025 ruled out the legal, inflation-based increase at the start of last year.

This was because the November 2024 increase of 2% was equal to that of the annual inflation, and was brought forward early to boost the end-of-year economy.

Increase not tied to budget

Many in France were concerned that the minimum wage (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance or Smic) would not increase in January due to the government’s failure to pass the 2026 budget on time. 

However, minimum wage increases are separate from the budget, and automatically increase each year based on two factors – inflation in the previous year and household purchasing power. 

Outside of this January 1 increase, an additional automatic increase takes place only if annual inflation reaches above 2% before the end of the year. 

Governments can choose to manually increase the minimum wage outside of these rule-based rises, usually in a bid to spur economic growth. The last time this took place was in 2022.

The graph below shows the increase in Smic since 2013.

Lower inflation in 2025 has limited the 2026 monthly increase to around €20 gross, or just under €17 net for a full-time worker. 

French inflation levels remain some of the lowest in Europe, and inflation should remain below 2% next year, meaning another increase will not take place until 2027. 

The group of economists tasked with discussing the minimum wage urged the government not to manually increase the Smic, arguing a high minimum wage in relation to other jobs stunts economic growth and limits job creation. 

The government agreed, and will not increase the minimum wage above the automatic, inflation-based amount. 

Unions including the CFDT and CGT, however, are demanding a further increase – as well as a wider re-evaluation of wages around this level – to improve household purchasing power.

France’s minimum wage remains on the higher side for Europe, but is still significantly less than in several other countries.

You can see how it compares to minimum wages in the UK, Germany, Spain, and several others here.