Persons in paid employment by amount of gross and net earnings, Slovenia, 2014

Two thirds of persons in paid employment with below average earnings

The share of people receiving earnings lower than the average almost does not change over the years and remains just below two-thirds. According to provisional data obtained from the existing administrative sources, in 2014 the average annual gross earnings in Slovenia, calculated at monthly level, amounted to EUR 1,637 and again almost two thirds (65%) of persons in paid employment received earnings below that value and half of them received earnings below EUR 1,353.

Average earnings in the public sector higher and in the private sector lower than the national average

Persons in paid employment in the public sector have on average a higher education than persons in paid employment in the private sector. In 2014 almost 53% of persons in paid employment in the public sector and almost 61% of persons in paid employment in the general government sector had tertiary education. This is why 44% of persons in paid employment in the public sector and more than 45% of persons in paid employment in the general government sector had earnings in the upper six classes of distribution, which means that they had gross earnings equal to or higher than EUR 1,766. On the other hand, in the private sector only about 23% of persons in paid employment had tertiary education and 22% of them had earnings in the upper six classes of distribution. Half of persons in paid employment in the private sector had earnings in the first eight classes, which means that half of persons in paid employment in the private sector had gross earnings equal to or higher than EUR 1,198.

The share of persons in paid employment with the highest gross earnings (EUR 3,376 or more) in the public sector was 5.6% (5.3% in the general government sector and 6.3% in public corporations), while in the private sector it was 4.7%. However, when we look at the absolute figures, in the highest class there were 60% of persons in paid employment in the private sector (almost 16,200) or 50% more than persons in paid employment in the public sector (about 10,800).

Most of the persons in paid employment with the lowest and the highest gross earnings work in manufacturing

In Slovenia, almost a quarter of persons in paid employment work in manufacturing, so it is not surprising that they dominate in almost all decile classes. Out of 9.9% of persons in paid employment in the first decile class in 2014, which means that they received gross earnings equal to or lower than EUR 825, more than a fifth were employed in manufacturing (20.7%), followed by persons in paid employment in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (17.3%) and in construction (11.3%).

Most of the 10% of persons in paid employment with the highest gross earnings, i.e. equal to or higher than EUR 2,660, in 2014 were employed in manufacturing (19.6%), followed by those employed in human health and social work activities (11.2%), in public administration and defence, compulsory social security (11.2%), and in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (10.6%).