E fundit!

22:51 TODAY

Businessman Artur Shehu breaks his silence: I am a long-time land owner in Zvërnec, I don't know the investors at all

Albanian businessman Artur Shehu spoke on the Opinion show...

The state officially pays 30% more than the private sector/ The gap will deepen in 2025

2026-03-12 07:18:30, Ekonomi CNA

The state officially pays 30% more than the private sector/ The gap will deepen

The performance of wages in our country showed that even in 2025 the public sector consolidated its position as the most competitive employer.

According to official INSTAT data, the average salary in the country exceeded the threshold of 100 thousand lek, settling at 100,280 lek.

This increase has caused the difference with the private sector to deepen again, reaching over 23 thousand lek, as the average salary in private businesses, although increasing, remains at the level of 77,155 lek, with the state officially paying 30% more than the private sector, although the latter still has informality and the real salary may be higher.

This trend shows that, despite the efforts of private enterprise to increase their offerings, the pace dictated by government reforms has been much faster and more aggressive for the last three years.

Last year, wages in the public sector increased by 8.9 percent, down from the pace of 16% in 2024. Meanwhile, the average gross monthly wage in the private sector reached 77,155 thousand lekë, with an annual increase of 8.4.

The wage gap between the private and public sectors, after narrowing significantly in 2022, with wages in the state being 20% ??higher, as a result of the rapid response of businesses after the inflation crisis, the gap began to widen again at high rates in the following years.

In 2025, the difference has reached 30%, a figure that shows that the private sector is increasingly far from the standard of payments offered by the state. This situation creates a double pressure on business, which in addition to the lack of labor force due to emigration, now also has to compete with the high level of high salaries of the public administration.

The public sector has become the wage leader as a result of a government plan to raise the average salary to 900 euros by 2024. Experts predict that this shift could direct talent towards state structures.

The performance of salaries in the state sector shows a progressive increase that has started since 2020, when this value fluctuates at around 64,389 lekë, as a result of the government's plan for salaries in the administration.

However, we see the biggest boost after 2022, where within just one year the salary increased by about 11 thousand lek, reaching 81,887 lek in 2023. This dynamic continued during 2024, while for 2025, the increase was about 8.9%, or a net increase of 8,211 lek compared to 2024.

On the other hand, salaries in the private sector at the level of 48,459 lek, have undergone a significant increase and are expected to reach 77,155 lek in 2025. For this group, the annual increase was 8.4%, indicating that the entire salary structure in the country is shifting upwards.

This wage expansion, although positive for consumption, remains a challenge for businesses that must cope with higher labor costs at a time when productivity growth often does not follow the same pace.

From a cost-of-living perspective, this increase is necessary to offset the rise in the cost of basic goods and rents, but it also fuels a new cycle of inflation. The increase in labor costs by about 8.5% in just one year forces businesses to pass on these costs to final prices to consumers.

In cases where wage growth does not come from productivity, but rather from pressures in the labor market, this causes inflation, which in turn dampens the effects of growth./ Monitor.al