2026 Minimum Wage (SMI): New amounts, contributions and payroll impact
24 February 2025 · VILAR RIBA
The Official State Gazette (BOE) of 19 February publishes Royal Decree 126/2026, resulting from a new agreement between the Government and the trade unions, which establishes the amounts of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) to apply as of 1 January 2026; this represents a monthly increase of 37 euros (+3.1%) compared to the 2025 SMI. Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance has not modified withholding rates on employment income; therefore, the SMI increase will lead to higher withholdings for employees, depending on their family circumstances.
Amount of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (Arts. 1 and 4)
- The SMI for any activity, without distinction of sex or age of the workers, is set at:
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1,221 euros/month in 14 payments
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17,094 euros/year
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40.70 euros/day
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- Casual and seasonal workers (< 120 days): 57.82 € per legal working day. This amount already includes the proportional share of Sundays, public holidays and the two extraordinary payments.
- Domestic employees (hourly): 9.55 € per hour effectively worked. This amount includes all salary concepts.
- Only monetary remuneration is computed, and payment in kind may under no circumstances result in a reduction of the full monetary amount.
Compensation and Absorption (Art. 3)
The revision of the SMI does not affect the structure or amount of salaries received by employees when such salaries, as a whole and on an annual basis, exceed the aforementioned minimum wage.
The annual SMI used as a benchmark for comparison will be the result of adding the salary supplements referred to in Article 26.3 of the Workers’ Statute (base salary and, where applicable, salary supplements determined according to circumstances relating to the employee’s personal conditions, the work performed, or the company’s situation and results, calculated in accordance with the criteria agreed for this purpose), as well as the amount corresponding to the guaranteed increase over time-based pay in piecework or production-incentive remuneration, and in no case may an annual amount lower than 17,094 euros be considered.
Non-application of the SMI (Sole Transitional Provision)
The new SMI amounts established in this Royal Decree are not applicable to any private contract or agreement in force on the date this RD enters into force that uses the SMI as a reference for any purpose, unless the parties agree to apply the new SMI amounts; in such cases, the SMI amount during 2026 shall be deemed to refer to the amount in force at the time this RD enters into effect.
The above is without prejudice to the need to amend salaries established in private contracts or agreements that, as a whole and on an annual basis, are lower than the SMI amounts established for 2026, to the extent necessary to ensure receipt of such amounts, with the rules on compensation and absorption being applicable.
Other matters
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Minimum contribution base in the General Regime: due to the new SMI, it increases to 1,424.50 €. It should be noted that the measure has retroactive effects from 01/01/2026.
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Self-Employed Scheme (RETA): as the SMI increases, the minimum contribution base also rises and, consequently, so does the contribution payable by self-employed workers applying this minimum base.
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FOGASA (Wage Guarantee Fund): its liability limits are updated in accordance with the approved SMI.
Entry into force and period of validity
This RD enters into force on 20 February 2026, although it will apply to the period from 1 January to 31 December 2026, with payment of the new SMI effective from 1 January 2026; consequently, in the February payroll, the differences corresponding to January must be paid.
