August the 24th, 2024 – The average Croatian salary is 14.3% higher when looking at annual comparisons, but it seems the pace is more different than one might initially expect.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, for a long time now, official statistics have shown that the growth of the average Croatian salary is being led by activities that mostly relate to the public or state sector. This was confirmed by the latest figures released by the State Statistical Office, according to which the average net amount of the salary payments for June for about 1.48 million employees in legal entities in Croatia was 1315 euros. Nominally speaking, that’s equal to a 14.3 and 11.6 percent increase in real terms compared to the average from back in June last year.
the public sector dominates
In the three groups of activities with the highest average Croatian salary growth in June (from 22.2 to 26.4 percent), are precisely those that predominantly represent the public sector. In the healthcare and social welfare sector, the average net salary in one year increased by 26.4 percent, to 1,816 euros on average. In the category of public administration and defence, the average salary nominally increased by 24.3 percent, to 1,687 euros, and in education by 22.2 percent, to 1,514 euros.
A few months ago, the annual average Croatian salary growth rates in these industries were slightly higher than in the annual comparisons of June’s wages. This can primarily be attributed to the so-called base effect, i.e. the fact that in June of last year, salary increases and adjustments had already taken place. That resulted in increased pressure from certain groups of employees in the state administration and public services towards the government.
different dynamics in average croatian salary growth
Even within the three aforementioned industries, however, quite a few differences in the dynamics of the average Croatian salary growth are evident. According to a more detailed picture published quarterly by the CBS, the largest increase in wages on an annual basis in June was recorded in the hospital sector, with a growth of as much as 30.5 percent. On the other hand, when it came to dental medicine, the average wage was 23.4 percent higher than that issued in June 2023. In the education system, the salaries of employees in primary schools increased the most – by almost 25 percent in nominal terms – while in preschool education they increased by an average of 17.2 percent.
When talking about the average salary taken home each month at the level of a total of 1.48 million employees in legal entities in Croatia, approximately a third of the total employees in legal entities have an average salary of 1315 euros or more. The remaining approximately two-thirds, or slightly less than a million people, have a salary lower than the average.
In this sense, it should be said that the median salary for June stood at 1106 euros net, which means that half of the employees had less, and the other 50 percent took home more than that amount.
wage reforms are responsible for improvements – and disparities
Although Croatian wage system reform in the public sector at the end of the first quarter of the year is largely responsible for the continued double-digit annual growth rates of the average wage, the tax changes at the beginning of the year also contributed to them. In any case, wages in the private sector are growing at a more modest pace. Analysts mostly point out that, in addition to the pressure to alleviate the previous loss of purchasing power during the intense rise in the prices of goods and services for personal consumption, average Croatian salary growth in the economy is also supported by the continuation of solid economic activity, but there’s still a pronounced labour shortage in certain industries.
