The average salary is the most frequently mentioned macroeconomic indicator of economic strength and citizen standards in Croatia. It is calculated and published monthly by competent state statistical institutes and insurance bodies (such as HZMO (Croatian Pension Insurance Institute)).
Calculated by simply adding all paid salaries in the country for that month and dividing by the total number of employed persons. Due to the influence of extremely high managerial salaries (so-called "outliers"), this indicator is often unrealistic and higher than what most workers earn. According to many data sources, a significant majority of workers receive a salary lower than the formal "Average salary".
The median represents the most accurate indicator of reality and is significantly lower than the average salary. It is the exact "middle number" – a value that divides the range of earnings exactly in half. This means that exactly half (50%) of the employees in the country have a lower salary than the Median, and exactly the other half (50%) of employees receive a higher salary.
Although it does not perfectly reflect citizen standards, the Average Gross Salary is regularly enacted by decree every year (Order on the amounts of bases for the calculation of contributions for mandatory insurance) and is not just media data, but a <strong>LEGAL base</strong> from which various limits and fixed payments are then calculated in the following year.
For example, based on that numerical data of the average salary, the following are fixed: