An Aruba minimum wage increase is economically and financially feasible, economist Koert van Buiren argues in an assessment reported by 24ora on October 25.
The director of Economisch Bureau Amsterdam supports a phased move toward the subsistence minimum, while acknowledging extra costs for employers. His assessment is not an announcement of an approved wage rate or implementation date.
Earlier purchasing-power study informs the assessment
According to 24ora, Van Buiren and Martijn Mak prepared the government-commissioned Koopkrachtplan Aruba, presented to Minister Geoffrey Wever in October 2025. The report’s date is a year earlier than the current coverage.
The study found that the statutory minimum wage, including the supplementary allowance, represented roughly 80 percent of the subsistence minimum for a person living alone. That is a finding attributed to the earlier study, not a newly measured October 2026 percentage.
Price effects and employer support remain considerations
Van Buiren said Aruba’s prices depend heavily on imported-product costs. In his assessment, a limited wage increase would be unlikely to have a significant price effect, although businesses would face additional wage expenses.
He recommended considering compensation, particularly for employers with many minimum-wage workers. The account also references research involving Bonaire as a comparison.
24ora also reported that Prime Minister Mike Eman and Van Buiren discussed the wage issue on the occasion of a presentation of the book Volk van Veerkracht in The Hague.
Source: Read the original 24ora report.
