Average Salary in Serbia Hits 120,401 Dinars in June
Serbia's September Macroeconomic Analyses and Trends report finds that public sector wages outgrew private sector wages in the first half of 2026, with one exception: public administration.
The average net salary in Serbia stood at 120,401 dinars in June 2026, up 12.3 percent in nominal terms from the same month last year and 9.3 percent in real terms. The figure comes from the September edition of Macroeconomic Analyses and Trends (MAT), published on September 8 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and the Economic Institute. The report also reveals something the headline numbers had not shown before: in the first half of the year, the public sector outpaced the private sector in wage growth, with a single exception.
“In the first six months of 2026, year on year, every category of the public sector except administration recorded faster growth in both net wages and total wage bills than the private sector. The median net wage for June 2026 stood at 94,281 dinars, meaning that 50 percent of employees earned up to that amount,” the report states.
Public administration, according to the same analysis, is the only public sector category that lags behind the private sector in this comparison.
The median wage matters because it shows how pay is distributed, not just where the average lands: while the average salary was 120,401 dinars, half of all employees in June earned less than 94,281 dinars. The gap between the two figures shows how much a smaller number of high earners pull the average upward.
Looking at the first half of 2026 as a whole against the same period in 2025, net wages grew 11.3 percent in nominal terms and 8.2 percent in real terms. This newspaper already reported that figure in the article “Real Wages in Serbia Up 8.2 Percent as July Prices Fall,” though without the sector breakdown that MAT now provides. By comparison, nominal wage growth for all of 2025 averaged 11.5 percent, with real growth at 7.4 percent, meaning this year’s nominal growth is running somewhat slower while real growth is faster, thanks to lower inflation.
What Does This Mean for Purchasing Power?
Wage growth combined with falling inflation has also improved how well salaries cover the average household’s basic expenses. The average consumer basket cost 110,740 dinars in May 2026, while the average net salary that month was 118,398 dinars, 6.9 percent above the basket’s cost. The minimum consumer basket in May was worth 57,188 dinars, and the minimum net wage covered 109 percent of it.
The minimum wage for 2027 has already been set: 405 net dinars per hour worked, up 9.2 percent from 2026.
Inflation: June and July Tell Different Stories
Sources describe price movements in June and July differently, so the figures below follow the version published in the MAT report itself. Monthly inflation came in at 0.2 percent in June, while July brought monthly deflation of 0.2 percent, meaning prices actually fell compared to June. Year on year inflation stood at 2.7 percent in June and slowed to 1.9 percent in July. The slowdown was driven largely by falling food prices, helped by an exceptional fruit and vegetable harvest this year.
Economic Growth and Foreign Trade
Real GDP growth for the first seven months of 2026 is estimated at around 3.5 percent, placing Serbia among the faster growing economies in Europe. Industrial output in the January to July period was 0.3 percent higher than a year earlier, while manufacturing grew 1.3 percent. The only sector with a real decline in activity was electricity, gas and steam supply.
Foreign trade also improved: the share of imports covered by exports rose to 82.7 percent from 79.4 percent a year earlier, as export growth outpaced import growth.
The next regular wage and inflation data, covering July and August, are due from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia in the coming weeks and will show whether the public sector’s advantage held beyond June.
