The latest official data show strong wage growth in Serbia.

According to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, the average net wage calculated for February 2026 amounted to 116,127 dinars. Converted according to the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia for February, this is approximately 989 euros.

The average gross wage in Serbia for February 2026 amounted to 160,067 dinars, or about 1,363 euros.

Faster growth compared with Croatian wages

At first glance, what stands out most is the speed of growth. Compared with February 2025, when the average net wage in Serbia amounted to 103,519 dinars, this year's figure represents nominal growth of 12.2 percent. This means that wages in Serbia grew significantly faster in percentage terms than in Croatia, where the average net wage rose by 7.8 percent over the same period. Serbia, therefore, is recording noticeably faster percentage growth.

However, the difference becomes clearer only when inflation is taken into account. Real growth in the average net wage in Serbia amounted to 9.5 percent, while in Croatia real growth in the average net wage amounted to 3.9 percent. This means that Serbia had faster growth in the observed period both nominally and in real terms, but it still starts from a much lower income level.

The median shows a different picture from the average

The average wage often attracts the most attention, but it does not always best show how most employees live. The reason is simple. High wages of a smaller number of people can raise the average and create the impression that incomes in the country are higher than what a large share of workers actually feels.

That is why the median wage is important. It shows the middle of the wage distribution. Simply put, the median is the amount at which half of the employees covered by the statistics have that amount or less, and the other half that amount or more.

In Serbia, the median net wage for February 2026 amounted to 91,399 dinars. Converted into euros, this is approximately 779 euros. This figure clearly shows the difference between the average and a more realistic picture of income. The average net wage in Serbia was close to 989 euros, but half of the employees covered by the statistics earned up to approximately 779 euros.

Croatia still has a large advantage in amounts

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics announced that the average monthly paid net wage per employee in legal entities for February 2026 amounted to 1,527 euros. Compared with Serbia, where the average net wage amounted to about 989 euros, the difference is approximately 538 euros in Croatia's favor.

The difference is very similar when median incomes are compared. The median net wage in Croatia in February 2026 amounted to 1,282 euros. In Serbia, the median net wage, converted according to the average exchange rate for February, amounted to about 779 euros. This means that the median net wage in Croatia was higher by about 503 euros.

Although wages in Serbia are currently growing faster in percentage terms, Croatia still has a clear advantage in concrete monthly amounts. Average and median indicators point to the same conclusion. The difference in net incomes is still measured in hundreds of euros.

The average gross wage in Croatia for February 2026 amounted to 2,139 euros. In Serbia, the average gross wage, converted into euros, amounted to about 1 363 euros.

Serbia is growing faster, but from a lower base

The comparison of annual dynamics is particularly interesting. In Croatia, the average net wage in February 2026 was nominally 7.8 percent higher than in the same month of the previous year. In February 2025 it amounted to 1,416 euros, and a year later 1,527 euros. That is an increase of 111 euros in one year.

In Serbia, growth in percentage terms was stronger. The average net wage rose from 103,519 dinars in February 2025 to 116,127 dinars in February 2026. When both amounts are converted according to the average exchange rates for those two months, this is an increase of approximately 105 euros.

In euros, wage growth in both countries looks very similar. The Croatian average net wage rose by 111 euros, and the Serbian one by approximately 105 euros. However, for an employee in Serbia this increase carries greater relative weight because it comes on top of a significantly lower starting wage. Simply put, it is not the same when someone's wage rises from about 884 to 989 euros and when it rises from 1,416 to 1,527 euros. In both cases the worker gets a little more than one hundred euros, but that addition is a noticeably larger share of the total wage in Serbia than in Croatia.