Average net salary in October 5,015 kuna

The average paid net salary per employee in Croatia in October this year amounted to 5,015 kuna, which is nominally 0.9 percent higher and real 1 percent higher compared to the previous month, the Financial Agency announced today.

Fina also published a salary analysis for the period from January to October, according to which the average net salary in that period amounts to 4,920 kuna and, despite a nominal increase of 6.5 percent, is stagnating in real terms. The real decline in average net salaries began at the start of the year and has persisted for all nine months, as consumer prices have risen faster, Fina emphasizes. According to the analysis, the growth of net salaries in the non-privatized (state) sector was higher than in the private sector – in the state sector, salaries in the period from January to October nominally increased by 7.3 percent, real by 0.8 percent, while in the private sector they nominally increased by 6.2 percent and real decreased by 0.3 percent. The average monthly net salary per employee in private legal entities was 4,470 kuna, which is 9.2 percent less than the national average.

In the state sector, the average monthly net salary in the period from January to October amounted to 5,629 kuna, or 14.4 percent higher than the national average, and 25.9 percent higher than net salaries in the private sector, according to Fina’s data. By areas of economic activity, average monthly net salaries in the period from January to October were very different – ranging from 7,095 kuna in the financial services sector to 3,817 kuna in the fishing sector, which is a ratio of 1.9:1. In all sectors, except for private households, a nominal increase in average net salaries was recorded, ranging from 8.2 percent in agriculture, hunting, and forestry to 5 percent in financial intermediation. However, as in most sectors, the growth of salaries was slower than the growth of consumer prices, so average net salaries in those sectors are also in real decline.

Of the total of 16 sectors, half recorded a higher average net salary than the state average, that is, higher than 4,920 kuna, while in eight sectors the average is lower than that amount. In sectors with a higher net average than the state, it ranges from 2.3 percent in education to 44.2 percent in financial intermediation, while among sectors with lower net salaries, those closest to the state average are in other social, welfare, and personal service activities, lagging by 0.8 percent, and the most lagging are in fishing, where they are 22.4 percent lower than the national average. By counties, average net salaries in the period from January to June ranged from 5,640 kuna in the city of Zagreb to 3,732 kuna in Međimurje County, which is a ratio of 1.5:1. Only the average net salary in the City of Zagreb was higher than the national average, by 14.6 percent, while all other counties are below the national average, with the largest lag in Međimurje (by 24.1 percent), Bjelovar-Bilogora (23.4 percent), Vukovar-Srijem (21.5 percent), etc. (H)