Minimum wage

A single statutory figure

The minimum wage in North Macedonia is a single amount set by law and the operative floor for full-time work: no full-time salary may fall below it. Unlike some countries, there is no regional or sector variation of the minimum — it is one national figure. The gross minimum wage is 38.507,00 ден a month, and the corresponding net minimum is 26.045,73 ден. The values shown are the values in force for 2026.

The figure was set by the official gazette (Службен весник no. 63/26, March 2026) and applies from the March-2026 salary through the February-2027 salary. It is re-set each March by indexation — half from the growth of the average net wage and half from the growth in the cost of living — so the minimum tracks both wages and prices over time rather than being frozen. The gazette reference in our source is marked as a paraphrase rather than a directly fetched primary, and the page says so instead of citing it as fact.

From gross to net at the minimum

The minimum is legislated as a gross figure, which is why the net you would actually receive is a little lower. The same mechanics as any other salary apply: the employee’s contributions (28% of the base) come off first, then the flat income tax of 10% is charged on gross minus contributions minus the personal allowance.

It is worth noting that at the minimum wage the personal allowance (10.932,00 ден a month) covers a large part of the tax base, so the income tax on this pay is small. At the very lowest wages the contributions and the allowance together can even bring the tax base to zero — in which case no income tax is due at all.

There is a useful sense-check here. Running the gross minimum (38.507,00 ден) through the same engine this calculator uses gives a net of 26.045,73 ден — which lines up with the net minimum published in the gazette, within denar rounding. That the model reproduces the official net from the official gross is a small but reassuring sign that the gross-to-net logic behaves as it should. It is a corroboration, not a claim of precision: the exact payroll rounding rule is not settled on this site.

Where the minimum sits

The minimum wage is the floor, not the middle of the market. For context, the average gross wage in the country is 72.818,00 ден and the average net wage 48.433,00 ден — both well above the minimum. So the minimum is best read as the legal boundary a full-time salary cannot cross, while the average shows where typical pay actually sits. To see the full breakdown for any gross figure — the minimum, the average, or your own — enter it in the net-pay calculator.