President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sanctioned the law that limits the adjustment of the minimum wage to 2.5% above inflation from 2025 to 2030. The measure is part of the mandatory spending cut package, proposed by the federal government and approved by Congress National about ten days ago.
With the new rule, the minimum salary for 2025 should be R$1,518, an increase of R$106 compared to the current R$1,412 minimum wage. The amount will only be made official in the coming days, through a presidential decree to be published.
The new adjustment rule aims to adapt the growth of the minimum wage to the limits defined by the new fiscal framework. In this way, the minimum wage will grow by 0.6% to 2.5% per year above inflation.
The current adjustment policy continues to apply. Since 2023, the minimum wage is corrected by the sum of inflation measured by the National Consumer Price Index (INPC) in the 12 months up to November, and the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the previous two years. The difference is that there will be an adjustment ceiling of 2.5% above inflation.
Approved by Congress on the last day of the legislative year, the minimum wage law should generate savings of R$15.3 billion over the next five years. According to the Budgetary Guidelines Law, each R$1 increase in the minimum wage increases spending by R$392 million, mainly due to Social Security and benefits linked to the minimum wage, such as the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC).
According to the previous rule, the minimum wage for 2025 would be around R$1,528. This is equivalent to INPC inflation of 4.84% in the 12 months ending in November, plus 3.2% GDP growth in 2023. With the new ceiling, the share of GDP growth will be limited to 2.5%, leading to the new value of R$1,518.
The new salary will only begin to be paid at the end of January or beginning of February, referring to days worked in January 2025.
