Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Wages across most major sectors in Slovakia continued to grow in August 2025, but for many workers, rising prices erased much of the gain. According to new data from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, while nominal wages rose in all ten sectors monitored monthly, four industries still saw real pay declines once inflation was taken into account. Employment levels remained largely unchanged, with several key branches of the economy continuing to shed staff.
The strongest wage growth was seen in the hospitality sector, where salaries in food and beverage services jumped by around nine percent compared with last year. Retail, construction, and transport and storage each recorded gains of roughly five percent, while pay in vehicle sales and repair increased by only half a percent. However, when adjusted for inflation, wages fell in the motor vehicle trade, selected market services, and slightly in manufacturing and the information and communication sectors.
Over the first eight months of 2025, real wages have risen in nine of the ten monitored industries, led again by hospitality with growth of 4.6 percent. Only market services recorded a year-on-year decline, dropping by 1.4 percent in real terms.
Employment trends show a more subdued picture. In August, job numbers were lower than a year earlier in five sectors, including wholesale trade, industry, and construction. Wholesale saw the steepest decline, losing about four percent of its workforce. Transport and storage also contracted modestly. On the other hand, small employment increases were noted in retail, food services, accommodation, and IT.
Between January and August, overall employment grew slightly in half of the monitored sectors, with accommodation showing the fastest year-on-year expansion at 2.4 percent. Yet, transport and wholesale continue to lag, each posting declines of up to two percent.
The data, based on monthly business surveys, offer a first look at wage and employment developments in Slovakia’s most influential sectors. Broader quarterly statistics — covering education, healthcare, and other industries — will provide a fuller picture of wage trends across the national economy later this year.
Source: SOSR
