The City Office for Economy, Environmental Sustainability and Strategic Planning has published the latest data on wage trends in the capital, confirming a strong upward trend in the incomes of Zagreb residents.

According to the official statement of 10 March 2026, the average monthly net salary in Zagreb for December 2025 amounted to 1,693 euros. Although on a monthly basis, compared with November of the same year, a symbolic decline of 0.3 percent was recorded, the data compared with December 2024 reveal an impressive increase of 9.4 percent.

Similar trends are also recorded in gross amounts. The average gross salary in Zagreb for December reached 2,428 euros, representing an annual increase of 10.6 percent. These indicators suggest that Zagreb continues to remain the engine of Croatia's economic development, maintaining a significant advantage over the national average.

Zagreb leads the rest of Croatia

When the data for the capital are compared with those at the level of the whole country, a clear economic difference is visible. While in Zagreb the net average is 1,693 euros, the average net salary in the Republic of Croatia for the same month amounted to 1,494 euros. This means that employees in legal entities in Zagreb earn on average almost 200 euros more than their colleagues at the national level.

The difference is even more pronounced in gross amounts, where the Zagreb average of 2,428 euros exceeds the national average of 2,087 euros by more than 340 euros. Also, the median net salary in Zagreb, which more accurately reflects the reality of most workers because it divides the population into two equal parts, amounted to 1,447 euros, while at the level of Croatia it was noticeably lower and amounted to 1,280 euros.

Energy sector at the top, textile industry at the bottom

Analysis by activity reveals deep differences in wages depending on the sector in which one works. The absolute winner in terms of income level in Zagreb is the crude oil and natural gas extraction sector, where the average net salary in December amounted to an incredible 3,301 euros, while the gross amount in that activity reached 5,093 euros.

At the other end of the scale are the traditionally lower-paid sectors. The lowest net salary was recorded in the manufacture of clothing, where workers received an average of 979 euros. In the sector of manufacture of leather and related products, the situation was only slightly better in gross terms, which amounted to 1,313 euros, the lowest recorded gross average in the city.

Detailed insight into income distribution

In addition to averages, the statistics also offer insight into how much different groups of employees actually earn through quartile and decile analyses. The first decile, which includes 10 percent of the lowest-paid workers in Zagreb, receives a net amount of up to 861 euros. On the other hand, the ninth decile shows that 10 percent of the best-paid residents of Zagreb earn 2,713 euros net or more.

Interesting are also the data on the hourly cost of labor. The average net hourly wage in Zagreb for December amounted to 9.12 euros, while the gross hourly wage was 13.08 euros. These data include all payments for working hours, but also compensation for annual leave, holidays and sick leave up to 42 days, which are borne by the employer.

Stability despite monthly fluctuations

Looking at the broader picture, in the period from October to December 2025, the average monthly net salary in Zagreb amounted to 1,686 euros. This confirms that stable growth was maintained throughout the entire last quarter of the year, with an increase of 9.0 percent compared with the same period of the previous year.

Experts point out that, although nominal wages are rising, it is important to monitor the real purchasing power of citizens as well. Given that the data at the level of Croatia showed real growth of 6.3 percent compared with the previous year, it can be concluded that wages in Zagreb not only keep pace with inflation, but significantly exceed it, providing citizens with a higher standard of living.

Although the figure of 1,693 euros net sounds optimistic and confirms Zagreb as the economic center of the country, the data on the median salary of 1,447 euros remind us that half of employees still receive amounts that are significantly below those we see in the headlines. The gap between highly profitable sectors such as energy and the low-profit manufacturing industry remains one of the key challenges for city policy makers.

While Zagreb continues to pull away from the rest of Croatia in terms of income, real success will be measured by how much this growth will be felt in the wallets of those who are in the lower statistical columns.