In April, the average salary in Belgrade was over 109,000 dinars, but significant differences exist between municipalities. Areas on the outskirts, such as Barajevo and Mladenovac, have average incomes nearly half that of central districts like the Old Town. Economic journalist and Magazin Biznis portal editor Radojka Nikolić explains that these gaps are largely due to the size of the municipalities, the number and types of jobs, and the concentration of employees.
New Belgrade, with around 110,000 employees, dominates the local job market, exceeding the combined workforce of three other municipalities. It has become the city’s business hub, especially for high-paying sectors like IT, where computer programmers earn an average salary of about 305,000 dinars.
Nikolić notes that New Belgrade’s advantage comes from its accessibility, road infrastructure, available construction space, and established business zones like Airport City. Foreign investors prefer locations with developed infrastructure and facilities, which many other municipalities lack.
While municipalities can improve living conditions, attracting investors requires modern work environments and equipment, especially in sectors like IT, where standards have risen sharply.
The journalist points out that bridging income disparities between municipalities is nearly impossible given current conditions.
Looking at job-specific salaries, catering workers earn around 62,000 dinars, computer repair technicians about 64,000, and ready-made clothing production workers 65,000 dinars monthly. These low wages often reflect unreported cash payments.
Public sector salaries are generally higher than average, while entrepreneurs tend to earn less, highlighting income disparities.
Median earnings data reveals that over half of Serbia’s approximately 2.88 million employees receive minimum wage or near it—more than 1.4 million people—making the wage gap especially difficult to overcome.
