Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest on living wage and income  
Need help?

Chile

World bank, 2020
Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)
8%
Population below international poverty line

Equivalent to 460,000 Chilean pesos per month for workers between 18 and 65 years.
WageIndicator Foundation, 2023

491
per month
National minimum wage

Equivalent to 782,549 Chilean pesos per worker per month. 
Global Living Wage Coalition, 2023

835
per month
Urban living wage
World bank, 2021
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
7%
Agricultural workforce
World bank, 2022
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
4%
Agriculture share of GDP

ITUC Global Rights Index, 2023
Regular violation of rights.

3
medium
Risk to workers' rights

Context

Chile has a population of roughly 19 million people.[1] The country is highly urbanised, with 88% of its population living in urban areas.[2] The agricultural sector employs 7% of the workforce,[3] and accounts for 3.5% of the country’s GDP.[4]

Chile is one of the leading agricultural producers in Latin America and an important player in the global agri-food landscape.[5] The country’s agricultural sector is highly diversified, as it specialises in a wide variety of products, including wine production and food processing. The sector is divided in two types of agriculture, one of family farming supporting the domestic market and another of high-tech commercial farming focussing on the export market. Especially during the harvest seasons agriculture is a significant source of employment. As for self-employed smallholder farmers, 43% of them own plots of less than 5 hectares. Given agriculture’s significance for the country, Chile’s high climate change vulnerability is alarming. More droughts, desertification and a greater presence of pests are expected, which are all factors capable of degrading agricultural production.[6]

The top produced commodities in Chile are grapes, apples, wheat, sugar beet and milk.[7] Similarly, Chile’s top export commodities in terms of quantity are wine, apples, grapes, prepared fruit and cherries.[8]

Footnotes
  1. ^ World Bank (2021). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=CL
  2. ^ World Bank (2021). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=CL
  3. ^ World Bank (2021). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?locations=CL
  4. ^ World Bank (2022). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?locations=CL
  5. ^ World Bank. (2011). Towards a Vision for Agricultural Innovation in Chile in 2030. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2780
  6. ^ UNEP (2016). A Sustainability Standard for Chile’s Agriculture Sector. Geneva: UNEP. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/22761/Sustainability_Chile.pdf?sequence=1
  7. ^ FAOSTAT (2019). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country
  8. ^ FAOSTAT (2019). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country_exports

Wages

Minimum wage

The minimum wage in Chile is set by law at 460,000 Chilean pesos (491 EUR) per month for workers between 18 and 65 years.[1] Although labour laws are properly enforced in the formal sector, the government has an insufficient number of labour inspectors to ensure enforcement throughout the whole country. In the informal economy, workers are not guaranteed adequate wages. Most minimum wage violations occur in the retail and the real estate sector. Furthermore, the most vulnerable social group to labour exploitation are immigrant workers in the agricultural sector.[2]

Footnotes
  1. ^ Wage Indicator Foundation (2023). Minimum Wage-Chile. https://wageindicator.org/salary/minimum-wage/chile
  2. ^ U.S. Department of State. 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Chile. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/chile/

Living wage

The Global Living Wage Coalition, has developed a Living Wage reference value study for non-metropolitan urban Chile based on the Anker methodology.

The Anker Living Wage Reference Value for non-metropolitan urban Chile is estimated at 782,549 Chilean pesos (835 EUR) per month. This is the wage workers need to afford a basic but decent standard of living in non-metropolitan urban Chile.[1]

Footnotes
  1. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition (2023). Anker Living Wage Reference Value: Non-Metropolitan Urban Chile. https://www.globallivingwage.org/reference-value/living-wage-reference-value-non-metropolitan-urban-chile/

What's happening

resource

Living Wage Reference Value, Non-Metropolitan Urban Chile

Living wage estimate for workers to be able to afford a basic but decent living standard for non-metropolitan urban Chile.

initiative

Formalization: The case of Chile

This ILO report shares practices to address informal labour in Chile with the aim of influencing policy.

initiative

Female Employment and Household Income in Chile

This scientific article focuses on the impact of the development of the Chilean fruit sector for women and household income.

Learned enough?