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Discover the highest-paid professions, for the first time salaries over 200 thousand lek/month

2025-08-27 07:32:00, Ekonomi CNA

Discover the highest-paid professions, for the first time salaries over 200

For the first time in 2024, a group of occupations has an official average salary of more than 200 thousand lek per month.

According to detailed INSTAT data, "Administrative and commercial managers" had an average gross monthly salary of 207 thousand lek in 2024, up from 194 thousand lek a year earlier, with an increase of 6.6% compared to the average a year earlier.

The second highest-paid profession is that of "Production and Specialized Services Manager", with an average salary of 156.7 thousand lek, or 8.8% more than in 2023.

In third place are “Information and Communication Technology Specialists”, who receive an average of 156.6 thousand lek per month, or almost as much as production managers. Compared to a year ago, the increase is 8.8%. IT specialists are becoming increasingly in demand for two reasons. First, with the development of technology, they are increasingly in demand. Second, this profession is also in demand in the world and Europe, causing many educated in this field to leave abroad, which has reduced their supply in the country, forcing an increase in salaries.

After managers and IT specialists, the best-paying job is in the state. The highest-paid are “Armed Forces Officers”, with 118.7 thousand lekë/month (8% increase). The list is continued by “Legislators, senior state administration officials and executive directors”, with 112.4 thousand lekë (8.1% increase).

Pursuing an economics degree also has relatively high returns. “Administration and business specialists” were paid an average of 104,000 lek per month in 2024, a 9.7% increase compared to the previous year.

Even "Specialists in the legal, social and cultural fields" receive over 100 thousand lek/month, at 104 thousand lek.

For the first time, teaching is also paid over 100 thousand lek/month, with "Specialists in the sciences of physics, mathematics and engineering", who had an average gross monthly salary of 100.5 thousand lek.

Of the 36 occupational groups reported by INSTAT, only 8 of them have salaries over 100 thousand lek/month (see graph at the bottom).

Among the highest salary increases in 2024 were the occupations of "Teaching specialists", with 13.3%, to almost 90 thousand lek; "Health specialists", with 99 thousand lek (+11.5%); "Specialized health assistants", with 13.5% to almost 76 thousand lek/month gross, as a result of the reform for higher payments for teachers, doctors and nurses.

At the bottom of the list for low salaries are groups of occupations such as "Producers of agricultural, livestock, and fishing products for family needs", with 47 thousand lekë and "Workers for sales and various street services", with 45 thousand lekë.

The total average gross monthly salary in 2024 was 77.4 thousand lekë, an increase of almost 10% compared to the previous year.

Salaries still remain the lowest in the region

Despite the continuous growth, influenced by many factors, such as pressure on the labor market from immigration or administrative reform, the average salary in the country continues to remain about 30% less than in other countries in the region, with the exception of Kosovo.

The highest average gross monthly salary is in Serbia, at 1,150 euros per month (135,403 Serbian dinars). In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the salary is almost 1,100 euros (2,140 BAM). In Montenegro, the salary is 1,083 euros. North Macedonia also pays its employees more than a thousand euros per month on average, specifically 62,000 Macedonian dinars, or 1,020 euros per month.

The euro salary in Albania is artificially inflated due to the depreciation of the euro, while the real purchasing power of income in lek has decreased due to the continuous increase in prices over the last three years (6.7% in 2022, 4.8% in 2023 and 2.2% in 2024). If converted at the 2022 exchange rate, to avoid inflation from the exchange rate, the average salary in the economy in 2024 was 650 euros, again 40% lower than the regional average./ Monitor