---
title: "France Brings Its Minimum Wage Rise Forward to December 1…"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/france-minimum-wage-rise-december-1"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-11-10T13:41:08.000Z"
modified: "2026-11-10T13:41:08.000Z"
---

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# France Brings Its Minimum Wage Rise Forward to December 1 as Cost-of-Living Protests Continue

France's SMIC minimum wage rises 1.6% on December 1, to about €1,502 net a month (about $1,683). See what changes on your payslip and what unions say.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[November 10, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/11)13 min read

![Bakery worker handing a fresh baguette across the counter in a Paris boulangerie](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/10811.jpg)

[https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1)[http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1)[https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1&title=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1&title=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue)[mailto:?subject=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1](mailto:?subject=France%20Brings%20Its%20Minimum%20Wage%20Rise%20Forward%20to%20December%201%20as%20Cost-of-Living%20Protests%20Continue&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Ffrance-minimum-wage-rise-december-1)

France will raise its minimum wage by [1.6 percent from December 1, 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest), bringing forward an increase that was originally planned for the start of 2027. For a full-time worker, the net monthly minimum moves from [€1,477.93 to around €1,502](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221) (about $1,656 to about $1,683), a gain of [nearly 24 euros a month](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html) (about $27). The decision came out of a [social conference with unions and employer groups at Matignon](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6) [on November 9](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html), after weeks of protests that began in high schools in mid-September and [broadened into protests against the rising cost of living](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe). For [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) readers who work in France or are weighing a job offer there, this guide covers the new amounts, how the SMIC is set, who it covers, what unions and employers think, and what the rise means for pay just above the minimum.

## What Exactly Did the Government Announce on November 9?

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou set out [two decisions on the SMIC at the press conference](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6) that followed the meeting. The government will [bring the SMIC increase forward to December 1 and set it at 1.6%](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6). The rise is made of two parts, a [0.6% increase on the government's own initiative on top of the automatic 1% revaluation due to inflation](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html).

That extra 0.6% is a [coup de pouce](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html), a [discretionary boost the government can make at any time](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300). A government-decided boost of this kind is a first since 2012, [franceinfo noted](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html). Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called it [the second-largest rise in 20 years](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest) and described it as [carefully planned to ensure it does not lead to job losses](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest).

The announcement followed [a meeting with several leading unions on Monday (November 9) following major strike action last week](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221), and Lecornu described the package as [not a final settlement but the opening of a sequence of talks](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6), with a first round of sector talks between now and early December.

> We have decided two things: to bring forward the increase to 1 December as opposed to 1 January, and to raise this increase to 1.6 per cent, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said at a press conference, according to [the Al Jazeera report](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest).

## How Much Does a Minimum-Wage Worker in France Earn Before December?

The current rates came into force on [June 1, 2026](https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2417640). The legal minimum is [€12.31 gross an hour](https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2417640) (about $13.79), which works out at [1,867.02 euros gross a month for 151.67 hours of work](https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2417640) (about $2,092). The net hourly SMIC is [€9.74, and the annual SMIC is €22,404.20 gross and €17,735.19 net](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300) (about $10.91, $25,106 and $19,874).

The net figures are a guide, not a legal amount. The SMIC is defined as a gross hourly rate, and [the net amount is given as an indication only](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), shown after employee contributions are deducted. The SMIC is set [on the basis of a 35-hour working week](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300).

The December gross hourly rate comes with a decree that Lecornu said, along with the other regulatory steps, [will be done very quickly](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6), and the June rate was [published in the Journal Officiel of 22 May 2026](https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2417640).

## Why Is This the Third SMIC Rise of 2026?

France's minimum wage has [already increased twice this year, on January 1 and June 1](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221). The January rate was [€12.02 gross an hour, or 1,823.03 euros a month](https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2417640) (about $13.47 and $2,043), and the June rise brought it to the current level.

Each rise came through a different route. The first [came from annual revisions, and the second due to annual inflation passing 2%](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221). The June rise was a [35-euro hike](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest) (about $39).

With the December rise, the SMIC will have [increased by 5.3% over 2026, or 75 euros more net over the year](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6) (about $84). Medef president Patrick Martin pointed out that there had been [three increases of the SMIC in 2026 because of inflation](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html).

## How Does France Set Its Minimum Wage, and Who Is Covered?

The SMIC can rise [in three ways](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300). The SMIC is [revalued every year on January 1, indexed on inflation measured for the lowest-earning 20% of households](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), plus half of the purchasing-power gain in the average hourly wage of manual and clerical workers. During the year, if the consumer price index [rises at least 2% from the level used for the last SMIC](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), the minimum wage goes up automatically by the same amount. And the government [can raise the SMIC at any time](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), which is the route used for [the extra 0.6% in December](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html).

The minimum applies to [every adult employee, whatever the form of pay](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), whether by the hour, by output, by the task, by the piece, by commission or by tips. An employer who pays below the SMIC can be fined [€1,500](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300) (about $1,681) and ordered to pay damages to the employee.

There are [a few exceptions](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300). Workers under 18 with less than six months of experience in their sector can be paid a reduced rate of [€11.08 gross an hour at age 17 and €9.85 at 16 or younger](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300) (about $12.42 and $11.04). Apprentices and professionalisation contracts [have their own reductions](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), travelling sales representatives known as VRP are outside the hourly rule, and Mayotte has a separate rate of [€9.56 gross an hour](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300) (about $10.71).

What counts toward the minimum matters when you check a payslip. Base salary, benefits in kind and productivity bonuses [count toward the SMIC](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), while expense refunds (including the transport bonus), overtime premiums, profit-sharing, seniority, attendance or special-conditions bonuses, and holiday or year-end bonuses not paid in monthly instalments do not.

## Are the Cost-of-Living Protests in France Still Going On?

The movement has widened since it started. It began [in mid-September in high schools, where students complained of overcrowded classrooms, a lack of teachers and crumbling buildings](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe), then drew in trade unions and the yellow vests movement. The protests now [cover a range of issues, from high fuel prices to wages and social housing](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe).

The movement is [showing little sign of easing](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe), even though weekend turnout dipped. Government estimates put the October 17 turnout at [more than 500,000 people nationwide](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe). On the Saturday before the announcement, the Ministry of the Interior counted [146,000 people across the country, including 46,000 in Paris, while unions put the figures at 250,000 and 75,000](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe). That Saturday turnout [was down from previous weeks](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe), and came days after an estimated 575,000 people joined a union rally.

Protest data shows how unusual the cycle is. More than 1,200 protests and riots of 100 or more people took place across France between September 15 and October 30, according to [an analysis of Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED)](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe), and ACLED chief executive Clionadh Raleigh said on October 19 that the rate during this cycle had reached [almost 66 a day, more than three times the usual rate](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe). Since mid-September, demonstrations over rising living costs, low wages and a lack of public services have broken out in [30 other European countries, from Portugal to Poland](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/mapping-how-frances-protest-wave-spread-across-europe).

The wage decision has not ended it. Right after the meeting, CGT leader Sophie Binet called [a further day of protests on November 17](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221), and that call is [backed by the FSU teaching union, Solidaires, UNSA, CFE-CGC and FA-FP unions](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221).

## What Do Unions and Employers Say About the Rise?

Unions say [the rise still falls short of their demands](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest). Binet put the union asks side by side, with [the CGT asking for 150 euros, the CFDT 100 euros and FO 130 euros](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/pouvoir-achat/smic-une-hausse-a-1-502-euros-net-des-le-1er-decembre-les-syndicats-reclament-davantage_8274533.html) (about $168, $112 and $146). The CGT frames its ask as [a 10 percent rise](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest), and the CFDT is [France's largest union](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest).

CFDT leader Marylise Léon called a SMIC rise [a good thing while judging this rise insufficient](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html). Binet described it as [crumbs](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/france-accelerates-minimum-wage-hike-in-bid-to-quell-protest), noting that the SMIC was already due to rise [by 18 euros automatically on January 1](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html) (about $20).

> Today, if you earn the minimum wage working full-time, you cannot live with dignity from your labour, CFDT leader Marylise Léon said days before the announcement, according to [the Connexion report](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221).

The rise [raises concerns among employers](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/pouvoir-achat/smic-une-hausse-a-1-502-euros-net-des-le-1er-decembre-les-syndicats-reclament-davantage_8274533.html), who are asking for something in return. Patrick Martin, president of the employers' federation [Medef](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html), called the rise a wrong answer to a real problem, arguing that jobs, investment and growth are the real response to lost purchasing power. For one small landscaping business with one employee, raising wages [would cost €1,800 more a year](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/pouvoir-achat/smic-une-hausse-a-1-502-euros-net-des-le-1er-decembre-les-syndicats-reclament-davantage_8274533.html) (about $2,017), and its owner may push back hiring a second worker by a month or two.

## What Happens to Pay Just Above the Minimum Wage?

The SMIC rise [does not automatically apply to every salary](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026). A worker paid above the SMIC depends on [their contract, sector agreements and negotiations in their company](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026) for any increase. The collective agreement that covers a job [usually sets its own minimum wage](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), and if that floor is below the SMIC, the employer [pays a top-up to reach the SMIC](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300).

That gap is where compression bites. There are concerns that repeated rises [squeeze earners who make only slightly above minimum wage](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221). A graduate employee on [€1,950 net a month](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/pouvoir-achat/smic-une-hausse-a-1-502-euros-net-des-le-1er-decembre-les-syndicats-reclament-davantage_8274533.html) (about $2,185) at the landscaping firm asked whether his own pay would rise to keep the gap with the SMIC.

The government's answer is a push on sector talks. Farandou asked the professional sectors to open [very fast negotiations, from next week, to raise sector pay floors in line with the new SMIC](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6), and to look at the lowest pay grades, where some sectors have not revised their job classifications in more than 10 years. He also plans to set up [a wage-monitoring committee with unions and employers](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6), and a decree tying general payroll-charge relief to the actual level of sector pay floors is due out the same week.

A second decree, due [by the end of the year at the latest](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6), will give works councils information on all the public aid a company receives, to feed into annual pay negotiations.

## What Else Did the Government Announce for Workers' Pay?

Several smaller measures came with the SMIC rise, and [most still need further decisions](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026) before they apply. Economy Minister Roland Lescure set out a proposal to keep the cap on the employer-paid fuel bonus at [1,000 euros](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6) (about $1,121) for next year. The bonus is optional, so [the cap does not mean every driver will receive 1,000 euros](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026).

Commerce Minister Serge Papin set out three more proposals. The government wants to [open the CSG exemption on the value-sharing bonus to companies with more than 50 employees](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html), which would add [1.5 million employees, for almost four million in total](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6). It also plans to [raise the cap above which overtime pay is taxed from 7,500 to 10,000 euros](https://www.franceinfo.fr/economie/greve/augmentation-du-smic-allegements-de-charges-pour-les-entreprises-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-des-annonces-du-gouvernement-a-l-issue-de-la-conference-sociale_8274527.html) (about $8,404 to $11,206) and to exempt employers' coverage of public transport passes at 75%.

These are proposals, not law yet. The overtime cap that officially applies to 2026 income [has not changed](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026), and the fuel bonus extension is to be [discussed as part of the finance bill and the social security finance bill](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6).

## What This Means for Workers in France, and What Should You Do Next?

If you are paid the SMIC, the December rise needs no negotiation, because no adult employee [can be paid below the SMIC](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300). Check the gross hourly rate on your December payslip against the official figure once it is published.

If you earn a little above the SMIC, the real story is your sector's pay floor. CFDT leader Marylise Léon has said that when inflation pushes the SMIC up, [this leads to a compression of wages at the lower end](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221), and the government has asked sectors to look at [the lowest pay grades, where grids are compressed](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6). Find out which collective agreement covers your job and where your grade sits on its pay grid. Annual company pay talks are the other lever, and the public-aid data due to works councils is meant to [help stimulate discussion inside companies](https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/conference-sociale-hausse-du-smic-de-1-6).

For adult job seekers, the December rise lifts the [legal hourly floor that any job in France must pay](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), with separate rules for apprentices, young workers and Mayotte. Compare this with [Spain, where unions are pushing for a bigger minimum wage](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/spain-unions-minimum-wage-7-percent-1306-euros-2027), and [Ireland's new hourly rate from January](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/ireland-minimum-wage-14-94-budget-2027).

Lacey Kaelani, [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com)'s CEO, puts it this way: A minimum wage rise protects the bottom of the pay scale, but the people just above it only gain if they ask. If your pay sits near the SMIC, find your sector's pay grid and raise it in your next review.

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## People Also Asked

### Q: What will the French minimum wage be from December?

A: The SMIC rises [1.6% from December 1, reaching a new net sum of around €1,502 per month](https://www.connexionfrance.com/money/frances-minimum-wage-to-increase-16-from-december-1/827221) (about $1,683) for a full-time worker on a 35-hour week.

### Q: Does the SMIC rise apply to every worker, including minors?

A: The SMIC is the [legal minimum hourly wage for every adult employee, whatever the form of pay](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2300), while workers under 18 with less than six months of experience in their sector can be paid a reduced rate.

### Q: Will I get a raise if I earn more than the minimum wage?

A: Not automatically, since pay above the SMIC depends on [your contract, sector agreements and company negotiations](https://www.economiematin.fr/conference-sociale-smic-primes-transports-pouvoir-achat-novembre-2026), and the government has asked sectors to reopen pay talks to account for the new minimum.

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