The average monthly net salary in Croatia for June 2026 amounted to 1,555 euros, but many do not see that amount in their account.

The median salary, which better describes the income of a typical employee, amounted to 1,345 euros. The data was published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

The average increased by only 3 euros

Compared to May, the average net salary increased from 1,552 to 1,555 euros. This is a growth of 0.2 percent, or only 3 euros. When price movements are taken into account, real growth amounted to 0.6 percent, which shows that consumer prices fell slightly during the month.

The average gross salary simultaneously reached 2,184 euros. Compared to May, it was higher by 0.3 percent, while its real value increased by 0.7 percent.

Salaries are rising, but prices are taking their share

Compared to June last year, the net salary is nominally higher by 7.7 percent. After taking price growth into account, the actual increase in purchasing power amounts to 3.1 percent. In other words, salaries did rise, but a large part of the increase was meanwhile eaten up by inflation.

Last year's average monthly net salary, that is, the one for June 2025, amounted to 1,444 euros, so a nominal increase of about 111 euros was recorded in one year..

The gross salary increased by 8.8 percent on an annual basis, and in real terms by 4.1 percent. This means that employees can on average buy somewhat more than a year ago, but significantly less than the nominal salary growth alone suggests.

From 988 to 2,330 euros

The highest average net salary was earned by employees in air transport, as much as 2,330 euros. At the other end of the scale is clothing manufacturing, where the average amounted to only 988 euros. The difference between these 2 activities amounts to as much as 1,342 euros.

The reasons for such a gap should be sought in the very structure of the jobs. Air transport includes a large number of professional and licensed positions, high responsibility, shift work, and various allowances. Clothing manufacturing is mostly a labor-intensive activity with lower margins, strong competition from cheap imports, and very limited room for salary increases.

The median salary shows a more realistic picture

A median net salary of 1,345 euros means that half of employees received that amount or less, while the other half received more. It is as much as 210 euros lower than the average because a smaller number of very high salaries raises the overall average value.

However, compared to May, the median salary increased by 1.6 percent, and by 9.1 percent over one year. This is one of the better pieces of news because it shows that the income of employees in the middle of the pay scale is currently growing faster than the overall average.

The figure does not include quite all employees

It is important to know that the CBS data refers to employees in legal entities. This calculation does not include employees in trades, liberal professions, or employed insured farmers, so the amount of 1,555 euros is not exactly the average of everyone working in Croatia.

Salaries really are rising and purchasing power is nevertheless slowly improving. But the average of 1,555 euros still sounds better than it looks in the accounts of a large part of citizens. For most, 1,345 euros is a much fairer indicator of reality, and real progress will only be seen when income rises more noticeably in activities that have still not reached even 1,300 euros.