Labour Ministry says SL’s 120th global minimum wage ranking based on outdated data

Saturday, 5 September 2026 00:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Labour Ministry yesterday clarified that Sri Lanka’s reported 120th global ranking on the national minimum wage was based on 2024 data published by Visual Capitalist and was not an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report.

It said the ILO had confirmed it was not involved in preparing or publishing the ranking, although the comparison may have drawn data from its ILOSTAT database.

The Ministry noted that Sri Lanka’s national minimum wage has since risen from Rs.12,500 per month at the beginning of 2024 to Rs.30,000 from January 2026.

It said the 2024-based ranking therefore does not reflect Sri Lanka’s current minimum wage level, while cautioning that international comparisons should also account for differences in wage systems, coverage and compliance across countries.