Where Does Croatia Stand on the European Teacher Salary Scale?

The start of the new school year has reopened the discussion about teacher salaries and the shortage of staff in classrooms across the European Union. According to the latest data from Eurydice, the European network for educational information funded by the European Commission, the differences in earnings of educational workers between EU member states remain very pronounced, with some studies estimating that starting salaries for teachers are up to 40 percent lower than salaries for other professions requiring higher education.

Luxembourg at the Top

According to Eurydice data, Luxembourg was the country with the highest teacher salaries in almost all levels of education for the 2024/2025 school year, both for those at the beginning and those at the peak of their teaching careers. Teachers there earn between 55,000 and 62,000 euros annually at the start, while at the peak of their careers, they receive between 97,000 and 109,000 euros. The Netherlands and Germany follow in second place, depending on the level of education and career stage.

At the opposite end of the scale are Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, which pay the least to teachers at the peak of their careers. Slovakia pays its employees between 18,000 and 22,000 euros annually, while Hungary and the Czech Republic do not exceed 27,000 euros. At the beginning of their careers, teachers in Greece and Slovakia fare the worst, with salaries of up to 17,000 euros annually.

Where Does Croatia Stand

Unfortunately, Eurydice’s report does not have data for Croatia, but the domestic legal basis is public and easily verifiable. According to the collective agreement for primary and secondary education, the base salary consists of the product of the complexity coefficient of the job and the base for salary calculation, increased by 0.5 percent for each completed year of service. As of August 1, 2026, this base amounts to 1,025 euros gross, increased for the third time during the year despite public service unions not agreeing to the planned triple increase of one percent each, as the Government decided on this independently.

A teacher or instructor without advancement, with the lowest coefficient of 2.01, thus has a basic gross salary of 2,060.25 euros per month from August, which without the increase for seniority amounts to about 24,700 euros annually. For an employee in Zagreb without children and seniority, this is 1,407 euros net per month.

After advancing to the mentor title, with a coefficient of 2.17, the basic gross salary rises to 2,224.25 euros, the advisory level with a coefficient of 2.38 carries 2,439.50 euros, while the highest title, excellent advisor with a coefficient of 2.62, brings a basic gross salary of 2,685.50 euros per month, or just over 32,200 euros annually without seniority. Since this title is usually achieved by teachers with many years of service, who receive an increase of 0.5 percent for each year of work in addition to the basic salary, the actual average salary in that group is practically higher; according to the latest ministerial report for March 2026, the average gross salary of excellent advisors in secondary schools was 3,484 euros, which amounts to approximately 41,800 euros annually.

In other words, a Croatian teacher at the beginning of their career earns about two and a half times less than their Luxembourg counterpart at the same career point, and at the peak of their career, depending on seniority, about three times less than the Luxembourg peak. At the same time, with an average salary at the peak of their career of around 40,000 euros annually, Croatia stands better than the Slovak and Hungarian bottom of the European scale, but the comparison remains limited as Eurydice’s international data usually use purchasing power standards for comparability, while Croatian figures are nominal.

The increase in the base salary is not the only reason for caution in interpreting the figures. Public service unions requested a meeting with the Government in May after anti-inflation measures were announced, which they fear could lead to cuts in public sector salaries, but there has been no response to that request to date. This means that the question of whether the announced increase in the base salary to 1,035 euros, which will first be felt in the salary paid in January 2027, will remain the last in a series or whether it will be preceded by a new round of negotiations is still open.