User:Greenbreen/Sandbox

The list below gives the official minimum wage rates in 197 countries and territories: 192 United Nations member states (does not include South Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011), plus the Republic of China (Taiwan), Northern Cyprus, Hong Kong, Kosovo and Western Sahara. Some countries are more effective than others at enforcing these regulations, so that the effective minimum wage may be lower than the official one. Some countries may have a very complicated minimum wage system, for example, India has more than 1200 minimum wage rates.^[1]

The minimum wages given refer to a gross amount, i.e. before deduction of taxes and social security contributions, which vary from one country to another. Also excluded from calculations are regulated paid days off, including public holidays, sick pay and annual leave.

For the sake of comparison, an "annual wage" column is provided in international dollars, a hypothetical unit of currency that has the same purchasing power that the U.S. dollar had in the United States in 2011. For calculating the annual wage, the lowest general minimum wage was used.