BLACK BALANCE IN MONTENEGRO: More than 40,000 people lost their jobs, the worst is in this city!

The services, accommodation and food sectors suffered the most, where the number of employees fell by 12,254 people. The number of employees in commerce was reduced by 7,785 and 6,462 people were laid off in administrative and support services.

– It could be said that these data show the depth of the crisis in this country, as well as the fact that the impact of the virus is really greater in countries that have a developed tourism sector. Perhaps first because of the ban on the entry of residents of Serbia and Russia to Montenegro during the summer. Thus, we have the largest relative drop in the number of employees, retail sales, industrial production … – explains economist Miroslav Zdravkovic, observing the economic trends in this country in July, compared to the EU average.

Photo: B. Dabić

Budva in the greatest success

If you look at the municipalities, the biggest drop can be seen in the most popular resorts: Budva, Herceg Novi, Tivat, Zabljak …

Thus, in Budva, the number of employees fell by up to 35.2 percent, in Herceg Novi and Tivat by 29 percent, in Zabljak by 25 percent, while the only municipality with year-on-year growth in the number of employees was Plav.

With the reduction in the number of employees, the salary fund was also reduced. The largest reduction in the salary fund came in Budva by 34.8 percent, Tivat by 31.3 percent and Herceg Novi by 29.1 percent.

Empty beach in Herceg Novi / Photo VV

The reduction in the number of tourists also affected retail

The number of tourists also decreased by 84.2 percent, which also reduced retail sales.

There were 176 thousand national tourists in that period, which is, if we look at last year’s data, a drop of 35.2 percent, and foreign tourists 213 thousand, which is a drop of an incredible 90.3 percent.

While the turnover decreased by 13.5 percent in seven months (from 817 to 706 million euros), it decreased by almost a third in July (from 152.5 to 103.1 million euros).

Compared to July last year, household deposits were also reduced by up to 18 million euros.

GDP reduced by eight percent

The Vienna Institute also previously estimated that the lack of economic activities in Montenegro will lead to lower investment and lower exports, as well as a reduction in personal consumption this year.

All of this, as they claimed, will affect the state’s plan to reduce debt in 2020. Mainly due to a significant decline in the tourism industry, which is dominant, the economy in Montenegro could fall by around eight percent this year, while that GDP growth is projected for 2021. from five estimates.

(Flash)