In May, the average net salary exceeded 100.000 dinars, boasted the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, on Instagram. While he talks about the results of "visionary politics", the reality is a bit different
Average net earnings in Serbia in May of this year it was 100.170 dinars, which is about 856 euros, according to the data of the Republic Statistical Office (RZS).
Three years ago, in May net salary in Serbia it amounted to 65.025 dinars (about 553 euros), which would mean that in three years the salary increased by 35.145 dinars or by about 303 euros, it says Today.
Earlier, the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali announced the average salary for 2027 and said that it will be 1400 euros and repeated Vučić's words that the state's goal is for the average salary to be 2025 euros by December 1000.
Vučić: Serbia is on an excellent path
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, boasted on his Instagram profile even before the announcement of the RZS that in May the average salary in Serbia exceeded 100.000 dinars, while 10 years ago it was only 330 euros.
Vučić pointed out that "this shows that Serbia is on an excellent path" and specified that the average salary in Belgrade is 1075 euros, in Novi Sad 982, in Niš 813 and approaching the average of the Republic, while in Bor the average salary is 1025 euros.
He concluded that "good investments and visionary policies yield results", and that by the end of the year, the average salary in Serbia will be more than 900 euros, and next year it will be more than 1000 euros.
"With this, we will make a huge historical difference compared to the period of poverty, unemployment and decline, but the road of responsibility and seriousness is difficult ahead of us, we have to work even harder and harder." Now we know and see that we can, now we see that Serbia can take big steps forward," said Vučić
While, according to Vučić, the financial roses for the citizens of Serbia are blooming, agencies within the UN (Unicef) prepared a projection of poverty in Serbia for the year 2023, and the data showed that 12,1 percent of Serbian citizens, i.e. 800 thousand people, are in absolute poverty.
Out of those 800.000 thousand, 167.000 beneficiaries receive cash social assistance, which as of April this year amounts to 11.674 dinars. Insufficient even for survival.
What are the salaries in the region?
In neighboring Croatia, the average net salary in May was 1.324 euros, which is about 468 euros more than in Serbia. Three years ago, in the same month, the average salary in that country was HRK 7.104, or about EUR 927. This means that in three years the average salary in this country has increased by 397 euros, that is, by about 30 percent.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), average salaries are significantly lower, so in May the average salary was 1.388 convertible marks, which is about 710 euros, while in May 2021, that salary was 981 convertible marks, which amounted to about 502 euros. . Therefore, their average salary increased by about 208 euros in three years, which is about 29 percent.
In percentage terms, average salaries in Serbia in the previous three years grew more than in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
In Montenegro, the average net salary in May was 832 euros, which is 24 euros lower than the average salary in Serbia. However, in May 2021, the average salary in this area was 530 euros, which means that it has increased by about 302 euros in three years, which is almost the same increase in wages as in Serbia. However, in percentage terms, it is a growth of slightly more than 36 percent.
North Macedonia, as well as BiH, has a significantly lower average salary than that in Serbia and in May it was 41.252 denars or 670 euros, which is 186 euros less than in our country. The average net salary in May 2021 in this country was 28.721 denars or about 467 euros. In three years, it increased by 203 euros. In three years, that salary in North Macedonia increased by slightly more than 30 percent.
In Romania, the average net salary in May this year was 5.118 lei or about 1.024 euros, and three years ago it was 3.492 lei or about 713 euros. This is an increase of 1.626 lei, or 311 euros. In percentage terms, it is also about 30 percent.
For a decent life, you need 144.457 dinars
The salary that covers the basic social and existential needs of workers and their families in Serbia amounts to 144.457 dinars, the latest calculation shows. of the Center for Emancipation Policies.
If we were to separately calculate the growth rate of food prices, which was far higher than the average annual inflation, this amount would be even higher, the announcement states.
"The average contracted net salary in 2023 was 86.000 dinars and covered only 60 percent of the living wage."
They further write that the latest data show that the average salary in May of this year was 100.170 dinars. Therefore, the average earnings have still not reached the level of the living wage. So what can we say about the minimum wage, which this year averages 47.000 dinars and covers only a third of the living wage?
Despite the fact that the living wage is recognized in many international documents, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Social Charter, but also the fact that the Labor Law explicitly states that the minimum wage must meet the basic social and existential needs of employees and their families , male and female workers in Serbia still live in poverty, they state in the announcement.
A living wage is a basic human right, concluded the Center for Emancipation Policies.
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