The latest data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS) for December 2025 indicate the continuation of the trend of double-digit nominal income growth in Serbia.

According to the official report, the average net salary paid in that month amounted to 124,089 dinars, which at the current exchange rate amounts to approximately 1,060 euros. At the same time, the average gross amount, which includes taxes and contributions borne by the employee, reached 169,921 dinars or approximately 1,452 euros.

These figures reflect a significant jump compared to the same period of the previous year. Namely, compared with December 2024, net salaries in Serbia grew nominally by 14.6%. When that growth is adjusted for the impact of inflation, that is, when we observe real purchasing power, growth still stands at a high 11.6%.

Understanding statistics through the lens of the median salary

To gain a true picture of living standards, it is important to distinguish between the average and median salary. While the average is often raised by exceptionally high incomes of a small number of employees in specific sectors, the median salary more accurately reflects the reality of most citizens. The median net salary in Serbia for December 2025 amounted to 90,819 dinars, which is approximately 776 euros.

Simply put, this figure means that exactly half of employees in Serbia earn up to the stated amount of 776 euros, while the other half earn more than that. Such a distribution shows that most workers' incomes are still significantly below the official average, which is a common occurrence in developing labor markets.

Comparison with the Croatian labor market and CBS data

Looking at the broader regional context and the data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS), the difference in purchasing power between the two neighboring countries remains noticeable. The average monthly net salary in Croatia for December 2025 amounted to 1,494 euros, which is 434 euros more than the average in Serbia.

The difference in median income is even more pronounced. While half of employees in Serbia receive less than 776 euros, in Croatia the median net salary amounts to 1,280 euros. This means that the median income in Croatia is more than 500 euros higher than in Serbia, which directly affects the breadth of the consumer basket and the overall standard of living.

It is interesting to note that in Croatia as well, the highest salaries were recorded in the petroleum products manufacturing sector, where the net average reaches 2,835 euros, while the lowest incomes are in the textile industry with an average of 942 euros.

Nominal versus real income growth

Experts often emphasize the difference between nominal and real growth in order to clarify how much citizens can actually buy with their money. Nominal growth represents the pure percentage increase in the amount on the payslip. In Serbia, it amounted to 11.5% for net salaries in the whole of 2025. However, when the increase in the prices of products and services is subtracted from that percentage, the result is real growth of 7.4%.

Similar trends are also observed in Croatia, where the real growth of net salaries on an annual basis amounted to 6.3%. Although the growth percentages in Serbia are somewhat higher, they are occurring from a lower base, so the absolute difference in euros between the two economies is not narrowing at a significant pace.

The data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia are based on reports from the Tax Administration and cover all employees for whom taxes and contributions have been paid, including those on temporary and occasional work contracts. Although the statistics show double-digit progress, the difference between the public and private sectors in Serbia is still visible, with the public sector maintaining a stable level of income with an average net salary of around 1,020 euros.