Qatar's QR 1,800 minimum wage buys 13.5% less than in March 2021

Qatar's minimum wage rules set a basic wage of at least QR 1,000 a month. When the employer does not provide food directly, an allowance of at least QR 300 a month is added. When the employer does not provide housing directly, an allowance of at least QR 500 a month is added. The minimum came into force on 20 March 2021.

Adding those amounts gives four monthly floors, depending on what the employer provides:

• QR 1,800 a month: the employer provides neither food nor housing.
• QR 1,500 a month: the employer provides food but not housing.
• QR 1,300 a month: the employer provides housing but not food.
• QR 1,000 a month: the employer provides both food and housing.

The amounts come from the ILO's news release of 19 March 2021 and the Government Communications Office's labour reform page. Law No. 17 of 2020 says the minimum is set by ministerial decision. Human Rights Watch's World Report 2026 says the minimum "has not been revised since 2021". All of these figures are nominal: they are riyal amounts with no adjustment for prices.

At the 2025 average exchange rate of 23.94 Indian rupees per riyal, QR 1,800 a month is 43,092 Indian rupees a month, and QR 1,000 a month is 23,940 Indian rupees a month. At 15.80 Philippine pesos per riyal, QR 1,800 a month is 28,440 pesos. At 33.49 taka per riyal, it is 60,282 Bangladeshi taka. The chart and table give all seven currencies.

The rates are World Bank official exchange rates for 2025, annual averages of local currency per US dollar, divided by the riyal's rate for the same year. They include no fees.

Qatar's general consumer price index (2018 = 100) was 97.18 in March 2021, when the minimum took effect. It was 112.39 in December 2025, the latest month in the dataset. That is a rise of 15.7%. The index is the National Planning Council's.

The legal amounts are fixed in riyals. In real terms, QR 1,800 in December 2025 is worth QR 1,556 in March 2021 riyals. QR 1,000 in December 2025 is worth QR 865 in March 2021 riyals. In those terms, what the minimum buys in Qatar fell by 13.5%.

If QR 1,800 had risen with the general price index from March 2021 to December 2025, it would be QR 2,082 a month. If QR 1,000 had risen the same way, it would be QR 1,157 a month. These are scenario figures, not legal amounts.

Law No. 17 of 2020 says the minimum shall be reviewed at least once a year. The chart uses annual average price indexes.

The minimum wage covers all workers of all nationalities in all sectors, domestic workers included. The ILO reported in 2022 that the wages of 280,000 workers, 13% of the workforce, rose to the new minimum.

The home-currency figures have limits:

• The exchange rates are annual averages for 2025. They are not the rate on any single day.
• They are not the rate a remittance company pays, and they include no fees.
• The conversion says nothing about prices in the home countries.

The riyal figures for 2021 to 2025 are nominal unless stated as March 2021 riyals. The price comparison uses Qatar-wide consumer prices from the National Planning Council, from March 2021 to December 2025.