UGS on the minimum wage: Serbia in POOR regional environment

With a new minimum price of labour for 2021 of approximately 32 thousand dinars, Serbia has not changed its moderately poor place among countries of the region.

Every sixth employee in Serbia receives the minimum wage, the same number receives only around ten percent more, and as many as 60 percent of workers are below the average wage, the text on the lowest wages in the region, published on the „UGS Nezavisnost“ website reports.

The Serbian government, although without a mandate, „made a decision“ not to indulge employers (they requested an increase in range from zero to four percent) nor trade unions which requested an increase by 12 percent (up to 15), and opted to around 6.6 percent instead.

Despite all the stories about unprecedented economic growth in the region and across the European and even world meridians, Serbia is in a poor regional environment, at least when it comes to the minimum wage.

When it comes to region, Slovenia is in the lead of course, where the minimum wage of, for us unimaginable, 940.58 euros is in force. Considering our circumstance it sounds strange that the average salary in Slovenia is higher than the minimum wage by only around 300 euros, or a little more than a quarter, but that is more than logical if we know that only four percent of employees in Slovenia receive the minimum wage.

If valid comparisons are made, one of the main parameters must be what percentage of people receives the minimum wage.

Last year in Serbia, as well as today, 350,000 workers out of 2.16 million employed are in the mini-zone, in Slovenia they amount to around 3.7 percent of the total 885,700 (it is similar now as well), and in Croatia only 2.25 percent of employees.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro have worse stats than Serbia.

When it comes to the real value of minimum wage, in Serbia it does not even suffice a reduced consumer basket from which no one can survive, while the average consumer basket requires 2.4 minimum wages.

Izvor: Danas

Foto: BIZLife