Salary for Life or Survival: Serbia continues to the bottom of the European scale of minimum wages, but better than Bulgaria – Economy

Although this long-term goal of the union was finally realized, minimal salary in Serbia remains among the lowest in Europe.

Namely, the European Union Statistical Agency (EU), Eurostat, She has published Recently data on the amount of minimum wages in Europe for the first half of this year, and according to these data, Serbia is at the bottom of the ladder.

The countries with lower minimal are Bulgaria, Albania and Northern Macedonia.

What does the Eurostat list look like?

Data on the amount of minimum wages published on Eurostat refer to the first half of this year, and are expressed in gross amounts (include taxes and contributions) in euros.

The lowest minimum in Europe has Albania and amounts to 408 euros, above it Bulgaria, whose minimum is 551 euros, and the third lowest minimum in the old continent has Serbia, which amounts to Serbia 619 euros.

Better than Serbia is Montenegro, which, reminded, from 1. October last year increased minimum earnings with 450 euros for those with completed high school, and for those with higher education, the minimum is 800 euros.

According to Eurostat, the gross minimum wage in Montenegro for the first half of the year is 670 euros.

Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Macedonia were not published at Eurostat, but according to their official data, BiH has a higher minimum earnings than Serbia, and Macedonians are lower.

In BiH, a net minimum is 1,000 converter marks, which is about 510 euros, and in Northern Macedonia about 370 euros. Net minimal 460 euros in Serbia.

When it comes to the amount of minimum wages in other countries in the region, in Hungary is 707 euros, in Romania 814 euros, and in Croatia 970 euros. The minimum in Slovenia even exceeds 1,000 euros and amounts to 1,278 euros.

The highest minimum in Europe has Luxembourg, which is 2,638 euros, then Ireland with 2,282 euros, and the third largest minimum was recorded in the Netherlands and amounts to 2,193 euros.

National minimum wages do not have Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden, and the data on Eurostat do not exist for them.

On minimum earnings in Serbia

According to official data, the minimum receives about 100,000 workers in Serbia, while unions claim that many more employees earn so much monthly.

The minimum wage is determined on the basis of the agreement between representatives of government, trade unions and employers.

Negotiations on minimum earnings are starting on the next year, 15. August and should be completed by 15. September, and if no agreement is reached, the percentage of minimal is determined by the Ministry of Finance.

Last year, the first time was agreed that the minimum earnings be equated with the minimum consumer basket.

Net minimal wage in January was 56,672 dinars, while, according to Data Ministries of internal and external trade, minimum consumer basket (includes a three-member family) in the same month amounted to 55,085 dinars. This means that the minimum in January was also a slightly higher than the minimum consumer basket.

It is also positive that the minimum in Serbia is growing from year to year. For example, ten years ago, more precisely in 2015. year, the minimum wage amounted to 21,054 dinars, which has increased by as much as 154.5 percent until today.

« Minimum earnings and consumer basket of overcome categories »

Last year’s agreement three sides of raising minimal wages for 13.7 percent were not satisfied with representatives of the « Sloga » union, although nominally increased, remains « under human dignity ».

This union also criticized trade unions who agreed to that amount, warning that this will further dispose of the operating population from Serbia, while employers will increasingly import cheap labor from abroad.

The president of that union Zeljko Veselinovic told today that the minimum wage and the minimum consumer basket « long ago beyond categories » were.

When it comes to minimal earnings, Veselinović pointed out that it is paid only in case a company operates with problems and only a limited period.

« Unfortunately, in practice, it is shown that the minimum wage or only something above it became something completely normal, » Veselinovic said.

He also pointed out that the minimum consumer basket was now an outdated category, because, as he said, the current salary for a dignified life, which amounts to a little over 140,000 dinars for a three-member family and it is a measure that needs to be applied in the calculation.

Veselinovic stated that Serbia now has an additional problem, because salaries in Serbia has increased, if they are counted in euros, but they are, reminds, and prices of goods and services increased.

« Prices in Serbia are greater than in the most European Union countries, because it is more common in Northern Macedonia, Albania, Egypt and Morocco. We have an additional problem for the announcement of Serbia’s abandonment to me by many companies », pointed out is Veselinovic.

« For the Serbian minimum wage cannot be said to be too low »

However, a professor at the Faculty of Economics Michael Arandarenko believes that Serbia has a higher minimum earnings than Bulgaria, which is a member of the European Union, and which one of these minimum wage, for these reasons, cannot say that it is too low.

« What needs to be watch is a minimum and average salary, or a medial wage. This would not say that our minimum wage is too low, for example, with Luxembourg, » says Arandarenko, « says Arandarenko for today.

Asked whether an increase in minimal earnings are one of the reasons for some investors from Serbia, Arandarenko replied that it was partly connected, but to represent only one segment of a wider context.

« It is true that some of these companies came at us as much as possible, but more importantly they came at the time of the workforce trying to find a location in which there was still surplus labor to invest here, » a professor pointed out. « Professor pointed out.

Arandarenko indicates that the departure of foreign investors from Serbia is not always connected to bad business conditions, but often the natural course of the investment cycle – each investment has its own « shelf life ».

In other words, part of the company leaves because he completed the planned job, but the problem arises when new investments do not come because Serbia does not have enough labor.

In that sense, he adds, a key challenge for Serbia is not only attracting investments, but a lack of workers. He points out that Serbia loses about 50,000 working age every year, which means that the total working capacity is in Pad.

It is interesting that this decline in the number of workers may look like a positive signal in statistics – because there are fewer people who can work, the employment rate increases, but not because it has more work, but because the base is smaller.