How much do teachers earn in Croatia?

(Patria) - The average salary of primary school teachers in Croatia working full-time, i.e., 40 hours a week (22 to 24 hours in teaching, including homeroom teacher duties and other responsibilities such as extracurricular activities), with an average age of 45, is 1,487 euros.

The median salary in this category is 1,578 euros (the median salary represents the middle value of salaries, where half of the employees earn less and half earn more than that amount), writes Slobodna Dalmacija.

A mentor teacher, aged 49, received 1,699.00 euros for November 2024, while the median salary in this category was 1,742 euros.

Adviser teachers, with an average age of 53, have a salary of 1,932 euros, while an excellent adviser teacher, which is the highest title among teaching staff immediately after the school principal, has a salary of 2,122 euros (their median salary is 2,172 euros), announced the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia.

According to the new regulation, the salary is calculated by multiplying the base amount by the complexity coefficient of the job, which is not dependent on educational qualifications. Thus, we have a situation where an adviser teacher with higher qualifications earns more than a colleague who has completed a university degree or a master's degree but has not advanced in their profession to the level of an adviser.

The old Ordinance on Salaries in Public Services, which was repealed after the Government adopted the Law on Salaries in State and Public Services, tiered employee salaries according to educational qualifications through Type I positions, which require a university degree, and Type II positions, which required the former higher education and its equivalent according to the Bologna process of study.

Two more salary increases are expected this year in all public services, including education, based on the Decision of the Government of Croatia on the amount of the base for salary calculation in public services (an increase of the base by 3% from February 1, 2025, paid in March 2025, and an increase of the base by 3% from September 1, 2025, paid in October 2025).