What to Pay Your Employees in Cabo Verde: A 2025 Salary Guide
Understanding the salary landscape in Cabo Verde is crucial for any business owner planning to hire local staff. The country is undergoing significant wage adjustments in 2025, with sharp distinctions between minimum wages for unskilled labor and the substantially higher compensation required to attract skilled professionals and managers. Here's what you need to know about salary benchmarks across different sectors and skill levels.
The Rising Minimum Wage Floor
2025 Minimum Wage: A Major Increase
As of January 2025, Cabo Verde's national minimum wage has been set at 17,000 CVE per month (approximately €155 or US$168). This represents a dramatic 54.5% increase from the previous minimum of 11,000-13,000 CVE and reflects the government's strategic commitment to raising living standards.
The minimum wage differs slightly between sectors:
- Private sector: 17,000 CVE
- Public administration: 19,000 CVE
The government plans for these two figures to converge starting in 2025, creating a uniform wage floor across the economy.
Looking Ahead
This isn't the end of minimum wage increases. The government and social partners have already agreed to raise the minimum wage to 20,000 CVE (approximately €181) by 2027. For business planning purposes, anticipate continued upward pressure on entry-level wages over the next few years.
Regional Wage Variations: The Sal Premium
While national minimum wages apply everywhere, actual market wages vary significantly by location, particularly in high-tourism areas.
Sal Island: The Premium Labor Market
Workers on Sal Island earn "considerably more" than the national average due to intense demand from expatriates and tourists in the service sector. Sal is considered perhaps the most expensive island in Cabo Verde (alongside Boa Vista), and this high cost of living drives up the wages necessary to attract and retain staff.
Historical data shows that Sal consistently pays the highest wages for non-managerial tourism staff, followed by Boa Vista, then Santiago. If you're establishing operations in these tourist centers, budget above the minimum wage to remain competitive.
Tourism Sector Benchmarks
Older hotel surveys recorded average wages for tourism workers in Boa Vista at approximately €298 per month—nearly double the current minimum wage. While this data isn't from 2025, it illustrates the premium you'll likely need to pay in the competitive tourism labor markets of Sal and Boa Vista.
Manufacturing and Construction
For context, wages in other sectors provide useful benchmarks:
- Textiles and garment manufacturing: €300-€500 per month
- Construction (unskilled): Historical rates as low as €5 per day (though this older data likely doesn't reflect current conditions)
The Skill Premium: Management and Technical Roles
The real salary story in Cabo Verde is the substantial premium commanded by skilled professionals, managers, and IT specialists.
Management Wage Premium
Analysis of Cabo Verde's wage structure reveals a significant skill premium:
- Managers and firm owners: Earn on average 52% higher wages than general workers (after controlling for education and experience)
- Top professionals: Earn on average 56% higher wages than other workers
This substantial differential reflects the acute shortage of skilled workers and management talent in the Cabo Verdean economy. If you're recruiting for management positions, expect to pay at least 50% above what you'd offer general employees.
Public Administration Benchmark
The average salary in public administration reached 56,527 CVE in 2022—more than three times the current minimum wage. This figure, which increased 36.5% between 2015 and 2022, provides a useful proxy for competitive skilled-worker compensation in the formal sector.
The public sector generally offers better compensation than private employers: the average private sector worker earns up to 47% less per hour than the average public sector worker. This wage gap creates recruitment challenges for private businesses, particularly when competing for qualified talent.
The IT and Digital Sector: High-Value Jobs in Praia
Cabo Verde is aggressively developing its digital economy, with particularly high compensation in the technology sector centered around Praia, the capital.
Geographic Concentration
Most digital service companies are based on Santiago Island (54%), particularly in Praia, which hosts the main hub of the Special Economic Zone for Technologies (ZEET). São Vicente accounts for another 28% of digital companies.
TechPark Salary Projections
The government's ambitious TechPark CV project provides concrete salary expectations for ICT workers:
- Average annual salary: Approximately €10,000 (about €833 per month)
- Total wage bill projection: 15 million euros annually when fully operational
At €833 per month, ICT workers in the TechPark would earn nearly three times the average tourism sector wage of €298—illustrating the premium for technology skills.
Government Support for High-Skilled Hiring
The IFICI regime (Fiscal Incentive Regime for Scientific Research and Innovation) specifically targets highly qualified professionals, including:
- Executive directors
- IT specialists
- Directors of production and specialized services
Notably, expenses related to staff with the highest qualifications (Level 8 of the National Qualifications Framework) directly engaged in R&D activities receive 150% tax recognition of their cost—effectively subsidizing your investment in top talent.
Wage Growth Incentives
The government actively encourages salary increases beyond the minimum wage through tax incentives:
The 4.7% Rule
Companies that increase their average annual base salary per worker by at least 4.7% compared to the previous year qualify for an enhanced tax deduction: 200% instead of 150% of the salary increase costs.
This incentive rewards employers who invest in raising compensation for existing staff, helping to drive broader wage growth across the economy.
Job Creation Tax Deductions
Location also affects the value of tax incentives for hiring:
- Praia, Sal, and Boa Vista: 26,000 CVE deduction per job created
- Other municipalities: 30,000 CVE deduction per job created
The lower deduction in Praia and Sal reflects their status as economic centers where job creation is less subsidized, while the government offers stronger incentives to develop employment in other regions.
Gender Wage Gap Considerations
Be aware that Cabo Verde faces significant gender wage disparities:
- Women earn up to 14.4% less than men overall
- In accommodation and restaurant sectors, women comprise 60% of the workforce but earn 50% less than men
- Women are underrepresented in higher-paying formal sectors
Progressive employers committed to pay equity should audit their compensation structures to ensure fair treatment regardless of gender.
Practical Salary Planning for 2025
When budgeting for local hires in Cabo Verde:
- Unskilled workers: Start at 17,000 CVE minimum, but budget 20-30% higher on Sal or Boa Vista
- General skilled workers: Expect 25,000-35,000 CVE (€225-€320) in competitive markets
- Management roles: Plan for 50-56% premium over general worker wages
- IT/technology specialists: Budget €600-€1,000+ per month for qualified talent
- Annual increases: Plan for at least 4.7% annual raises to qualify for tax benefits
The Cabo Verdean salary landscape reflects a transitional economy: a rising wage floor protecting unskilled workers, acute shortages driving premiums for skilled talent, and government policies actively pushing compensation upward. Understanding these dynamics will help you offer competitive packages that attract quality staff while managing costs effectively.