At a session of Serbia’s Social-Economic Council (SES), the Ministry of Finance, unions, and employers failed to reach an agreement on the minimum wage for 2026.
The government announced that the minimum hourly wage will increase to 371 dinars starting January 1, equivalent to a monthly salary of 64,554 dinars (about 551 euros). Representative unions had requested an increase to 400 dinars per hour, raising the monthly minimum to around 70,000 dinars (600 euros).
Experts note that even with the planned increase, the minimum wage remains insufficient to meet basic living standards for workers and their families. Currently, around 500,000 people earn less than 60,000 dinars per month.
Unions and employers also warned that raising the minimum wage could narrow the gap between low-skilled and higher-skilled salaries in the public sector, particularly in southern and southeastern Serbia, where the average salary is about 73,000 dinars.
Observers stress that wage growth should be part of broader economic and social strategies, including redistribution of wealth and addressing inflation, rather than creating tensions between workers earning low and slightly higher incomes.
