Salaries are higher in Serbia than in Montenegro

As of December, the average salary in Serbia is officially higher than the Montenegrin average, for the first time since the beginning of the nineties. According to the data of the Statistical Office of Serbia, the average net salary for December is 66.092 dinars or 562 euros, while the average net salary in Montenegro in December was 527 euros.

This average in Serbia is significantly influenced by high salaries in the public sector, where the average is 610 euros, but the average salary in the private sector in this neighboring country is also 541 euros higher than the average in Montenegro. Montenegrin Monstat does not separately maintain data for the public and private sectors.

Compared to December 2019, the average net salary in Serbia increased by 10,6 percent, and the real increase, minus inflation, was 9,2 percent. The average net salary in Montenegro increased by 1,3 percent for the year.

The constant growth of the average salary in Serbia in recent years is also due to the fact that the minimum wage increases every year, but also because the non-taxable part of the salary was introduced, which also grows every year and leaves room for employers to increase their net salary.

As of January 1, the minimum hourly wage in Serbia was increased from 172,54 to 183,93 dinars, that is, from 1,46 to 1,56 euros per hour, which is an increase of 6,6 percent. Based on this, the minimum wage for eight-hour working hours (176 hours per month) was increased from 257 to 275 euros. The non-taxable part of earnings in Serbia has now been increased to 155 euros.

The minimum wage in Montenegro was last increased in July 2019 from EUR 193 to EUR 222, after six years of standing still. Montenegro is the only country in the region that does not have a tax-free portion of earnings, which employers have been asking for for years, but the previous government refused to introduce it.

The new government has announced that it will increase the minimum wage to 1 euros from July 250, and that by then it will discuss with employers the reduction of payroll taxes, including the possibility of introducing a non-taxable portion of wages.