The highest salaries in Montenegro for 2024: Over 187,000 euros in earnings

Data on the highest salaries in Montenegro for 2024, provided by the Tax Administration to the Bankar portal, reveal that the highest wages are in the wholesale trade, real estate, hospitality and fuel trade sectors. The highest calculated gross salary exceeded 187,000 euros. Among the top ten highest-paid individuals, four are Montenegrin citizens, while six high salaries belong to foreigners predominantly employed in the real estate and hospitality sectors.

The highest gross salary calculated this year in Montenegro is 187,308.22 euros. According to the Tax Administration’s data provided to Bankar, this salary belongs to a Montenegrin citizen who, after taxes, received just under 140,000 euros. The sector in which this salary was calculated is categorized under “non-specialized wholesale trade.” Due to tax secrecy, further details about this salary are unavailable, and considering that this amount only appeared once during the year, it is likely that the salary included a bonus.

To highlight just how lucrative this year’s earnings were, the individual in question received 148 average salaries, which, according to the latest data from Monstat, amounted to 944 euros in October. This means that an employee with an average salary would have to work over 12 years to earn this amount. Given that many citizens in Montenegro earn the minimum wage of 600 euros, they would have to work almost 20 years—half a working lifetime—to reach this sum. Highly educated workers with a minimum wage of 800 euros would need nearly 15 years.

Among the top ten highest salaries, four are held by Montenegrin citizens and six by foreigners. However, due to tax secrecy, further details beyond the salary amount and sector are unavailable. According to the Tax Administration’s data, four employees received salaries exceeding 100,000 euros this year.

In addition to wholesale trade, sectors like real estate and hospitality are highly lucrative. A foreigner working in the rental business earned around 130,000 euros, with a gross salary of about 176,000 euros.

The third-highest salary went to a Montenegrin citizen working in monetary mediation, with a gross salary of 152,456 euros, or about 113,000 euros after taxes. Approximately 3,500 euros less went to a foreigner working in the hotel and accommodation sector. Their gross salary amounted to 147,749 euros, with a net payment of around 110,000 euros after taxes.

The next highest salary was also in the hospitality sector, with a foreign worker earning a gross salary of 126,474 euros, or about 94,000 euros after taxes.

A Montenegrin citizen also made the top 10, with a salary of around 90,000 euros. Another foreigner in the hotel and accommodation sector earned around 85,000 euros, while another foreigner involved in real estate rentals earned around 81,000 euros.

The wholesale trade of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels also proves to be a profitable sector. A foreign worker received a salary of 93,707 euros, which means they took home around 70,000 euros after taxes. The tenth-highest salary was in non-specialized retail stores, mostly food and beverages, where a Montenegrin citizen earned just under 70,000 euros, with a gross salary of 93,493 euros.

The taxes calculated for the top 10 highest salaries in 2024 amounted to approximately 200,000 euros.