Challenging 2026 as well: Session on job losses in FBiH not yet continued, devastating data for 2025

(Patria) - Official data from the Tax Administration of FBiH showed that during 2025, there were 6,043 fewer employees compared to December 2024. There are several reasons for such a decline, and they can be highlighted as the non-working Sunday for retail (application started in November 2024) and the increase in the minimum wage from 619 to 1,000 KM from January 2025, as well as global market trends that also reflect on the BiH economy, especially export-oriented companies.

The FBiH Government has not commented on the 2025 data, and it is questionable whether the session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which was interrupted on November 21 and discussed the Information on job losses in the Federation of BiH in the period December 2024 - September 2025 at the initiative of opposition representatives, will be continued.

The Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Adnan Delić, tried to convince the representatives at the time that a small, but still, growth in the number of employees was recorded during 2025 and that the number might be higher by the end of the year. He then stated that it is not fair to compare data from 2025 with the end of 2024. After 2025 concluded and the data clearly indicate a decline in the number of employees, the Government is obliged to provide some answers.

In the first year of the FBiH Government's mandate, at the end of 2023, there were 544,345 employees, 551,452 in 2024, and 545,409 at the end of 2025.

Approximately 2,000 jobs were lost in the retail sector alone.

In 2025, the FBiH Government adopted decrees by which it provided some funds to private employers for contributions after the minimum wage increase, for which it spent 100 million KM, and allowed the payment of non-taxable aid to employees in the monthly amount of 450 KM, and 400 KM from July 2025, so that other wages would also increase without additional costs.

However, in the Budget for 2026, the Government has not planned subsidies for contributions, and the bases for contributions for self-employment and craftsmen have increased. A decree on the payment of non-taxable aid to employees, which was also a demand from employers, is still pending.

Although there has been a reduction in the contribution rate for PIO and health insurance borne by the employer, which came into effect on July 1, the FBiH Government has not fulfilled its promise to further reduce the contribution rate by the end of 2025. With the current number of employees, which is declining compared to 2025, and pensioners, whose number increased by 11,200 new beneficiaries during 2025 alone, the Government will find it difficult to decide on a further reduction of the tax rate. Especially since a new reduction was linked to the adoption of the Law on Fiscalization of Transactions, which is on the agenda of the first January session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament.

Almost half of the FBiH Budget in 2026 will go towards pension payments. The base for salary payments in the FBiH public sector has also increased, while the minimum wage for 2026 has been set at 1,027 KM.

Everything indicates that 2026 will also be challenging in economic terms.