A survey of the average wages in the Balkans and in Bulgaria over the second quarter of 2017 was presented at an international meeting held in Sofia “Living standards in the focus of attention of the TUs.” The analysis indicates that the highest salaries in the Balkans are in Slovenia and Greece, and the only country where salaries are lower than in Bulgaria is Albania.

According to Eurostat data for 2014, wages in Bulgaria were lower than wages in Serbia by 35 percent, in Macedonia – by 16.7 percent, and almost three times lower than in Slovenia and Greece. In 2014, wages in Bulgaria marked a 26.2 percent growth, which, according to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, shows that businesses have been displaying an adequate market reaction and have raised salaries in the hope of keeping qualified workers inside the country. The accelerated rate of increase in the employment income in Bulgaria has made the average salary equal to that in Serbia, nonetheless, Bulgaria is still bottom of the list of Balkan countries at 530 euro per month, followed only by Albania. In Macedonia salaries remain 1.2 percent higher than in Bulgaria.