According to data from the statistical officeMonstat, the coastal city of Tivat in Montenegro is the region with the highest average salary. The average salary of Tivat residents is 623 euros, while in the north the lowest salary is in the municipality of Petnica at 437 euros. In the capital, Podgorica, the average salary is 560 euros.
Residents of Ulcinj officially receive the lowest salary in the south of the country — 422 euros.
However, if we look at theaverage salarywithout taxes and contributions, the statistics are more than interesting. For example, in Podgorica, the average salary of 560 euros is only 17 euros higher than in Plav, where it amounts to 533 euros.
According to official statistics, the average salary in Pljevlja is only two euros lower than in Podgorica and amounts to 558 euros.
Opinion on the regions with the lowest average salary
Civil activist from Bijelo Polje, Almer Mekić, says that the statistical data published by Monstat say only one thing — that the institutions dealing with statistical data are in a major crisis, either due to a lack of staff or due to the intentions of some to present a completely different situation.
“According to research conducted by the NGO Euromost over many years, the average salary in municipalities in northern Montenegro cannot exceed 280 euros, that is, without taxes and contributions. The minimum wage is 222 euros without taxes and contributions. We would invite Monstat to announce separately for each municipality in northern Montenegro how many citizens in the north receive the minimum wage of 222 euros, because, according to our findings, it is as much as 60%, while the other 30 receive between 250 and 350 euros, and the remaining 10 receive more than 350 euros. Therefore, it is impossible for the average salary, for example, in the municipalities of northern Montenegro in 2021 to have been 500 euros on average, and for the average salary to be almost the same as in Podgorica,” Mekić said.