Minimum-wage laws: Virtually every country in the world has a minimum wage.

Which Countries Don’t Have a Minimum Wage?

Which Countries Don’t Have a Minimum Wage?

A partnership of Slate and the New America Foundation.
Feb. 21 2013 9:45 AM

The Handful of Countries Without a Minimum Wage

Minimum wage laws around the world.

In a surprising move, President Obama proposed during the State of the Union address to increasing the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. A perpetually controversial issue, the minimum wage remains a flashpoint between progressives and conservatives, with proponents saying it keeps full-time workers out of poverty and opponents arguing it increases unemployment.

As the map above shows, only a handful of countries lack minimum wage laws. Most countries have a minimum-wage law or agreement. In many cases, those laws guarantee a minimum wage only to workers in certain industries or locations. And many countries with minimum-wage laws struggle to enforce them.

Correction, Feb. 21, 2013: Due to an editing error, this article originally stated that Congo, Kenya, and Pakistan do not have minimum wage laws. They have partial minimum wage laws.