Montenegro will introduce a new wage model from January 2027 that would set minimum net salaries between €1,000 and €1,400 depending on workers’ education, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said, announcing another major overhaul of taxes, wages and pensions.
Under what Spajić called the government’s “Euro-model”, employees with primary education or less would receive a minimum net monthly salary of €1,000, those with secondary education at least €1,250 and university-educated workers at least €1,400.
Spajić said the measures would benefit around 250,000 citizens and were designed particularly to improve the position of lower-income households.
The prime minister also said the average salary was expected to reach €1,400 under the new model, although the announcement represents a government projection rather than an achieved wage level.
The package would continue Montenegro’s strategy of reducing the tax burden on labour in an effort to increase take-home pay.
Workers to keep as much as 97 cents from every euro
Spajić said employees would receive 92 cents of every euro spent by employers on labour costs, rising to as much as 97 cents for the lowest salaries.
He gave the example of a worker currently receiving €1,600 net while costing an employer around €1,980. Under the planned changes, that employee would take home around €1,870 from the same labour cost from January, he said.
The increase would result from further reductions in labour taxation.
Spajić said additional salary increases could follow if unions, employers and the government agreed on how to apply a higher coefficient used to calculate wages across the public and private sectors.
Under such a scenario, he said, the €1,870 salary in his example could rise above €2,000.
The government argues that the approach would allow employees to retain a greater proportion of employers’ labour expenditure while avoiding an equivalent increase in costs for companies.
Pensioners promised €100 winter payment
The package also contains measures aimed at pensioners.
Spajić said pensions would be adjusted four times a year, while pensioners would receive an additional €100 payment in December to help cover winter expenses.
The government expects the average pension to exceed €600 by April, while the minimum pension would rise above €500, according to the announcement.
The pension and wage increases form part of a broader economic strategy through which Spajić’s government has sought to raise disposable incomes and reduce the gap in living standards between Montenegro and wealthier European countries.
“Citizens are Montenegro’s greatest capital,” Spajić said, arguing that higher living standards were also needed to prevent a new wave of emigration after the country joins the European Union.
Government bets on consumption, jobs and diaspora
Financing such a substantial increase in disposable income will be one of the central questions surrounding the programme.
Spajić said the calculations were supported by stronger consumption and employment, efforts to curb the grey economy, fiscal discipline and expectations that members of Montenegro’s diaspora would return.
The government also expects additional revenue from confiscating illegally acquired assets.
Another potential source of revenue could come from property taxation.
Spajić said the government planned measures targeting vacant real estate, including houses and apartments that remain closed and unused.
The prime minister projected a budget deficit of between 4% and 5% next year, before declining to 3% by 2028.
That trajectory would make the government’s assumptions on economic growth, tax collection and public expenditure important to the sustainability of the programme.
From €1,000 to €1,400 depending on education
The most striking part of the announcement is the proposed wage floor itself.
Rather than introducing a single minimum salary for all workers, the model would differentiate minimum net pay according to educational attainment.
Workers with primary education or less would have a €1,000 minimum.
Those with secondary education would receive at least €1,250.
Workers with higher education would have a minimum of €1,400.
If implemented as announced, the system would represent a significant intervention in Montenegro’s wage structure.
The government says the changes can simultaneously increase household incomes, make employment more attractive and strengthen the economy without imposing the entire additional cost on employers.
The economic impact, however, will ultimately depend on the detailed legislation, implementation and whether the growth in revenues and economic activity assumed by the government materialises.
For now, Spajić has set an ambitious benchmark for 2027: minimum take-home pay starting at €1,000, reaching €1,400 for university-educated employees, alongside higher pensions and lower taxation of labour.