- The most significant increases were in the salaries of heads of public administrations, state politicians and officials, and judges.
- Appropriation managers have so far made limited use of the possibility to use the savings for salaries.
- The fastest average salary growth was in the institutions with the lowest remuneration before the reform.
The transformation of the public governance improvements, launched in 2024, aims not only to modernise human resources management, but also to ensure a competitive remuneration system. One of the key elements of this transformation is the modernisation of the public sector pay system, with a new mechanism for indexation of the basic salary and coefficient, more discretion for managers to design a pay system that meets the needs of the institutions and the use of saved allocations for salaries.
The National Audit Office's overview of public sector employees' salaries, which analyses one year of developments, shows that the transformation of the public governance improvements is delivering its first results.
"The overview of public sector salaries is the first step in uncovering the impact of the ongoing public governance transformation on the remuneration system. Already in the first year, we are seeing the results of the transformation, with a narrowing of the salary gap between institutions, and an increase in salaries for managers and judges, which is crucial for strengthening the leadership of the institutions and for attracting managers with higher competences. However, the flexibility given to institutions to allocate savings to salaries has not yet been actively used, with the same number of appropriation managers increasing their salary fund as before the transformation," stressed Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
The overview shows that average gross salaries in public administrations rose by around 10% to EUR 2 622 (up from EUR 2 377), while staff numbers grew, but slightly (+1%). For example, in the Offices of the President, the Government and the Parliament, the number of staff (civil servants and employees under employment contracts) remained stable after an average increase of 11% to EUR 3,068 (from EUR 2,747), while in the municipal administrations, the average salary rose by 11% to EUR 2,235 before tax (from EUR 2,020) and the number of staff increased by 4%.
The most significant change is the increase in the average salary of managers, public politicians and officials, and judges. In some institutions - the Offices of the President, the Government, the Seimas and some ministries (Education, Science and Sport, Economy and Innovation, Health, Foreign Affairs) - the salaries of managers, public politicians and officials increased by around 30%. The increase ranged from EUR 700 to EUR 1 100 before tax in different institutions. The average salary of judges increased by around 20% (from EUR 4 820 to EUR 5 842 before tax), ranging from EUR 150 to EUR 1 600 in different courts.
The institutions (ministries, subordinate institutions and courts), which had lower salaries before the restructuring, recorded faster average salary growth. Among ministries, the highest increases were observed in the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (17%), the Ministry of Culture (15%), and among courts, the Alytus and Plungė District Courts (30%). Other institutions with among the highest salaries showed only modest salary increases in 2024. These developments show that the public sector remuneration system is becoming more balanced between institutions.
It is expected that this overview will contribute to data-driven public sector planning and will serve as a basis for further monitoring of the salary policies and improving public governance.
The overview data and results, presented in an interactive tool, make it possible to analyse the information and assess trends in salaries and staff turnover.