The average salary in Croatia is 14 percent higher than last year, with the highest-paid cloud engineers, pilots, and IT architects

According to data from the MojaPlaća service, in 2023, the average monthly net salary (including salary supplements) in Croatia amounted to 1139 euros, which is 14 percent higher than the previous year (for comparison, salaries in 2022 increased by only five percent compared to 2021), reports MojPosao.

The median salary is slightly lower at 1028 euros, meaning that most workers earn less than the stated average. Compared to last year, the median salary increased by 11 percent. In 2023, the difference between the average and the median has increased.

It is certainly interesting, writes MojPosao, to look at the distribution by salary brackets. One-third of citizens are in the salary ranges of 751 to 1000 euros (34 percent) and 1001 to 1500 euros (35 percent). The number of workers whose salary exceeds two thousand euros is increasing, while the number of those with monthly earnings below 750 euros is decreasing.

Apart from managerial positions, where salaries in 2023 were on average 115 percent higher than average, the highest-paid professions are those in technology and development (59 percent higher than average) and information technology (+36 percent).

The lowest average salaries in Croatia are earned by workers in auxiliary occupations (-37 percent), textile workers (-38 percent), and employees in service activities (-29 percent).

Looking at occupations, without considering hierarchical positions, the highest monthly salaries are earned by cloud engineers, pilots, and IT architects. The lowest-paid workers in Croatia are tailors (with an average monthly salary of 622 euros), seamstresses (672 euros), and cleaners (677 euros).

Salaries in private companies with foreign ownership are seven percent higher than average, amounting to 1222 euros. On the other hand, the earnings of employees in private companies predominantly owned domestically are four percent lower than average (1092 euros), while average salaries in state-owned companies are around 1088 euros (five percent lower than average), and the monthly earnings of workers employed in public and local government amount to 1039 euros (nine percent lower than average).

In Zagreb, the highest salaries

Compared to last year, salaries have increased the most in state-owned companies (+16 percent), while they have increased the least in public and local government (+12 percent) and private companies with foreign ownership (+13 percent).

Furthermore, in companies with fewer than ten employees, the average salary is around 991 euros (-13 percent compared to average), in companies with up to 19 employees, the salary is three percent lower than average (1108 euros), while the highest average salary is recorded in large companies with more than a thousand workers (1174 euros, or three percent higher than average).

Compared to last year, salaries have increased the most in companies with the lowest salaries, that is, in the smallest ones (up to 19 employees) – on average by 15 percent, while in large companies compared to last year, salaries increased by 12 percent.

The lowest salaries are found in Virovitica-Podravina (-19 percent) and Vukovar-Srijem (-19 percent) counties.

The highest average salary is recorded in the City of Zagreb (ten percent above average) and amounts to 1256 euros (median 1133 euros).

Additionally, respondents with rich work experience and higher education levels have higher salaries compared to those with shorter tenure and lower education. Thus, employees with completed postgraduate studies or some business school (MBA) have, on average, a salary 52 percent higher than average.

Studying pays off

The belief that ‘studying pays off’ is confirmed by the numbers, as individuals with higher education have a salary 15 percent higher than average (1315 euros) and even 35 percent higher than workers with secondary education, who on average earn 975 euros.

Compared to the previous year, salaries have increased the most for employees with the lowest earnings, so those with completed primary education saw their salary increase by 19 percent compared to 2022, while those with completed secondary education saw their salary increase by 15 percent. Salaries have increased the least for employees with the highest earnings and completed postgraduate studies, by only six percent.

Additionally, the research confirmed that inexperienced workers, who are at the beginning of their careers, earn the least, 935 euros (18 percent less than average), while those with one to two years of experience have a salary of 1024 euros (ten percent less than average). The average Croatian salary is reached with three to five years of work experience, after which one starts to earn above average, and the average salary of those with ten years of work experience amounts to 1257 euros, which is 10% higher than average.

MojaPlaća also compared salaries in other European countries, noting that while salaries in Croatia have increased the most for those with the lowest earnings, at the European level, salaries have increased the most in the poorest countries.

While in the south they increased by about 13 percent, in Germany, for example, the average salary fell compared to last year, Austria and the Czech Republic recorded slight growth, while Ireland stagnated.