Historic Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect Amid Sharp Decline in Poverty
The national minimum wage has now seen a 158% increase since 2016, with the latest increase taking effect yesterday June 1, 2025.
The Government of Jamaica, led by Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness, has progressively increased the minimum wage policies.
As of June 1, 2025, the national minimum wage moved up to $16,000 per 40-hour work week.
This new wage applies equally to industrial security guards, who have also seen their weekly compensation increase to $16,000.
This latest increase brings the minimum wage to its highest level in Jamaica’s history.
In 2016 the national minimum wage stood at $6,200, the Government has raised it by an unprecedented 158%.
The increase represents real movement to assist persons earning low wages.
“This Government recognizes that the contribution of minimum wage earners, household workers, artisans, labourers, store clerks, and security personnel, is vital,” said Prime Minister Holness.
Furthermore, the wage increase forms a cornerstone of the administration’s wider national development strategy, one that is already yielding transformative results.
The minimum wage increase comes as the Planning Institute of Jamaica reported that the country’s poverty rate fell from 16.7% in 2021 to a historic low of 8.2% in 2023, the lowest level since records began in 1989.
Nearly half of those living below the poverty line in 2021 have risen out of poverty by 2023.
Prime Minister Holness has emphasized the significance of this progress.
“We are not just reducing poverty, we are going to end absolute poverty in Jamaica. Jamaica’s new mission is clear: to eliminate absolute poverty so that no citizen is left behind. This is the future we are building today.”
The Government has declared the total eradication of absolute poverty as a key pillar of its new national mission.
This vision builds on years of sustained investment in social protection, education, employment, and economic opportunity, all aimed at uplifting Jamaica’s most vulnerable citizens.
The increase in the national minimum wage reflects the administration’s belief that economic justice is essential to national prosperity.