According to the latest data published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, the continuation of the wage growth trend at the national level is visible, as the average monthly paid net salary per employee in legal entities for September 2025 amounted to 1,456 euros.

This statistical indicator reveals that employees' earnings increased nominally by 0.7 percent compared to the previous month of August, while real growth, which takes into account the impact of inflation on purchasing power, amounted to a more modest 0.3 percent. When we look at the broader picture and compare these figures with the same period last year, we arrive at the data that the average net salary is nominally higher by 10.1 percent and in real terms by 5.7 percent, indicating that wage growth still exceeds the inflation rate in the observed annual period.

It is also important to understand the gross amounts, which represent the total labor cost, so the average monthly gross salary per employee in September 2025 amounted to 2,025 euros, representing a monthly nominal increase of 0.5 percent. Analysis of the data through the first nine months of 2025 shows that the average net salary in that period amounted to 1,437 euros, which is nominally 10.1 percent higher and in real terms 6.2 percent higher compared to the same period last year. These data suggest stable income growth throughout the current year despite various economic challenges faced by the labor market.

However, the average can often be misleading because it is influenced by exceptionally high incomes of a smaller number of employees, so for a better understanding of citizens' standard of living it is necessary to examine the median salary, which divides employees into two equal parts. The median net salary for September 2025 amounted to 1,260 euros, which means that exactly half of employees in legal entities received a salary lower than or equal to that amount, while the other half received more. It is interesting to note that the median salary recorded somewhat faster growth than the average, as it increased by 1.2 percent compared to August and by a significant 11.6 percent on an annual basis.

When we analyze the distribution of salaries by activity in greater depth, we notice pronounced differences between the highest-paid and lowest-paid sectors in the Croatian economy. Traditionally, the highest salaries are still paid in the air transport sector, where the average net salary for September reached 2,409 euros, while the gross amount in the same activity was 3,520 euros. On the completely opposite side of the scale are workers in clothing manufacturing, who in the same month received the lowest average net salary of only 936 euros, with a corresponding gross amount of 1,227 euros.

The statistics also record data on working hours, so in September 2025 there were on average 173 paid hours, which is an increase of 4.2 percent compared to August. The highest number of paid hours was recorded in water transport activity, where workers achieved an average of 183 hours, while the lowest number of hours, 162, was recorded in social work activities without accommodation.

If we look at hourly earnings, the average monthly paid net salary per hour for September amounted to 8.17 euros, which is 3.1 percent lower compared to August due to the higher number of working hours in September, but compared to last year it still represents growth of 5.4 percent. All the above data were collected by processing reports on income and taxes and include employees in legal entities of all forms of ownership as well as bodies of state authority, but do not include employees in trades and liberal professions.