Original article (in Serbian) was published on 17/6/2026; Author: Teodora Koledin
In an address at the election session of the assembly of the United Pensioners of Serbia Party (PUPS), Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that Montenegro, during the period when he first took office as Prime Minister, had salaries 50 percent higher than Serbia’s. Vučić said that salaries in our country at that time were 330 euros, and in Montenegro they were 490 euros. He also emphasized that Serbia “overtook them [Montenegrins] for the first time in March” with a difference of 12 euros. However, Tragač noted several inaccurate statements in the president’s address.
According to a statement by the Republic Statistical Office of Serbia (RZS), “the average salary without taxes and contributions paid in April 2014”, i.e. in the month in which Vučić also took over the position of Prime Minister, was 45,847 dinars. Converted at the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia on the last day of April of the same year, it would be around 396 euros. As the fact-checking portal Istinomer previously wrote, the average salary for that entire year was 379.3 euros.
At the same time, the Montenegrin Statistical Office Monstat published information in its April 2014 statement that “the average salary without taxes and contributions (net) was 474 euros”. Based on the official data we previously presented, we can calculate that the average net salary in Montenegro in April 2014 was around 19.6% higher than that in Serbia. The conclusion is clear: the difference is far less than the alleged 50%.
During his television appearance on October 1, 2021, Aleksandar Vučić also spoke about the growth of salaries in Serbia and compared them with salaries in other countries in the region. Even then, he noted that the average monthly salary in Serbia is higher than that in Montenegro (556 versus 525 euros), which is why the statement that the turnaround occurred “for the first time” in March of this year is completely illogical.
According to RZS data for September 2021, the average net salary was 65,218 dinars. That is, according to the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia from the last day of September of the said year, 554 euros. In the same period, the average monthly salary recorded in Montenegro without taxes and contributions was 533 euros.
