Official statistics show more good news, this time for salary earners.
The average monthly net salary per employee in Croatian businesses for June was 5,810 kuna, which is an increase of 2.3 percent nominally and 2.6 percent in real terms compared to May, reported the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Compared to the same month last year, the average net salary in June was nominally and in real terms higher by 4.5 percent, or 252 kuna, which is the highest nominal annual growth in the average net salary since April 2009, said Raiffeisen Bank analysts in their review, reports Jutarnji List on September 2, 2015.
For the period from January to June, the average monthly net salary per employee in companies was 5,685 kuna, which represents the nominal increase of 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent in real terms as compared to the same period last year.
“The relatively strong annual growth in net wages was largely supported by amendments to the Income Tax Act which led to increased personal tax breaks, which could eventually contribute to the continuation of higher household spending in the coming months. However, the growth is still limited by a weak labour market which is characterized by a pronounced seasonality, high unemployment levels, and low employment and activity levels”, said the RBA analysts.
The highest average monthly net salary for June was paid in the field of extraction of crude oil and natural gas, and amounted to 10,725 kuna, followed by employees in air transport with the average salary of 10,661 kuna, and the production of refined petroleum products with the average of 10,266 kuna. Among the higher salaries were those in the pharmaceutical industry (9,191 kuna), the financial services sector (8,963 kuna), and computer programming, consultancy and related activities (8,798 kuna).
The lowest average net salary in June was paid in the field of clothing production (3,129 kuna). Low salaries were received by security guards (3,191 kuna) and those employed in the leather industry (3,276 kuna) as well.
