Data from the State Statistical Office show that during the second quarter of 2026, the greatest demand for workers was recorded in the services and sales sectors.

The highest vacancy rate was recorded in accommodation and food service activities, where it reached 6.23%. The hospitality and tourism sector is facing major difficulties in securing staff due to seasonal pressures, low wages and the mass departure of young people to work abroad.

The lowest rate was recorded in the Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply sector, at just 0.38%. This sector is traditionally known for its stability, good wages and limited labor turnover.

The Skopje region continues to be the country’s main economic center. With a vacancy rate of 2.30%, the capital leads in demand for workers, as most business activity is concentrated there.

The staff shortage appears particularly pronounced among businesses with between 10 and 49 employees. This category recorded the highest vacancy rate, at 3.20%. While large companies are able to offer higher wages and benefits, medium-sized businesses find it more difficult to attract and retain workers.

As for occupations, the fifth group, Service and Sales Workers, had 2,980 job vacancies. At the same time, according to the latest data from the State Statistical Office, unemployment in Macedonia stands at 11.3 percent, while the number of unemployed people reaches 90,020.

The discrepancy between the number of unemployed people and the number of vacancies can be explained by several factors. One of them is the significant gap between the profiles produced by the education system and the needs of the real labor market. The country has more graduates in administrative fields, while there is a shortage of workers with professional and craft qualifications.

In addition, a considerable portion of registered unemployed people may be working in the gray economy, meaning they are employed without being officially declared. Others register with the Employment Agency primarily to receive social benefits and health insurance, without genuinely intending to accept a job offer.

Another problem is related to wages and working conditions in the sectors experiencing the greatest staff shortages, particularly services and sales. These conditions are often not attractive enough to activate people who are outside the active labor market.

In the face of this situation, an urgent review of policies is needed.

Macedonia is no longer facing only the challenge of creating new jobs, but also the difficulty of finding people to fill them. This paradox is becoming a serious obstacle to economic growth. If companies cannot secure the workers they need in services and sales, the expansion of their operations will be hindered. The solution requires the rapid retraining of unemployed people, higher productivity and wages, as well as a determined fight against the informal economy. Otherwise, businesses may view importing labor from abroad as the only way to cope with the staff shortage.

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Over the past five years, Macedonia has added more than 36,000 housing units, despite around 36.6% of all homes being unoccupied, according to the latest population census. At the same time, in the most sought-after areas of Skopje and Ohrid, the value per square metre has already surpassed €3,000.

The statistics raise an increasingly prominent dilemma in the real estate market: why do costs continue to rise while supply expands and thousands of apartments remain unoccupied?

According to data from the State Statistical Office, processed by the financial portal “Pari,” 36,281 homes were completed between 2020 and 2025, with a total area exceeding 3.26 million square metres. A new home averages around 90 square metres. Three-room homes lead with 12,038 units, followed by two-room homes, which number 11,129. The database records completed homes according to the number of rooms and administrative units.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Population Census revealed that of the 839,174 homes across the country, only 531,987 were occupied, accounting for 63.4% of the housing stock. The remaining 307,187 homes, or 36.6% of the total, were listed as unoccupied. In other words, approximately one in every three homes had no permanent residents at the time of the census. Nevertheless, the pace of construction has not slowed.

In June alone this year, construction permits were issued for 754 new homes./TV21/

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The heatwave is creating major difficulties for people who work outdoors. Exposure to the sun and high temperatures increases health risks, especially for workers in construction, agriculture and other sectors where work is carried out outdoors.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia has called on employers to implement the measures stipulated for protecting workers during extreme heat. The Federation is urging employers to comply with occupational health and safety rules in view of the forecast high temperatures, and to reduce or suspend outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day. The union is also calling for all necessary resources and measures to be provided to safeguard workers’ lives and health under these conditions. The Federation reiterated that precautionary and protective measures must be implemented during periods of high ambient temperatures, for which the Institute of Public Health has already issued recommendations.

Liridon Xhemaili, a lawyer and construction sector expert, says that although construction work is more intensive during the summer, the high temperatures require additional measures to ensure workers’ safety.

According to Xhemaili, construction activity intensifies during periods when weather conditions are more favorable, but the heat requires greater care for those working outdoors, particularly people with health problems. He stressed that every reputable company should take these circumstances into account and implement the recommendations for protecting workers.

The Institute of Public Health has also called on citizens to take protective measures against the heatwave because of the high temperatures. The period with the highest risk from being in the sun and exposure to high temperatures is from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. /TVM2

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During the past year, apartment prices rose by more than 19.5 percent in the first two quarters, while in the second two quarters, the annual increase in real estate prices exceeded 25 percent.

The apartment price index, which covers only the territory of the city of Skopje and is calculated on the basis of the sale prices of advertised apartments, but not completed sales, recorded an increase in the second quarter of 2026.

Data from the Real Estate Cadastre Agency show that in the first quarter of this year there was a decline in the number of transactions in the real estate market. Compared with the last quarter of last year, in the January-March 2026 period the number of apartments sold fell by 27 percent, while their total financial value dropped by 23 percent.

The number of houses sold also decreased by 23 percent. At the same time, sales of agricultural land and forests fell by 8 percent on a quarterly basis, while the sale of commercial premises declined by 11 percent.

Although construction continues and real estate prices are rising, a paradoxical phenomenon is being observed on the ground: more and more apartments in Skopje remain unoccupied. While the price per square meter is reaching record levels, some of the new dwellings are being used neither for housing nor for rent.

According to experts, this is linked to several factors, including the purchase of apartments as a form of investment, or “keeping money in concrete,” expectations of further price increases, high rents that drive away tenants, as well as uncertainty over long-term renting. Under these circumstances, many owners choose not to rent out their properties at all.

In May, household loans recorded monthly growth of 1.3% and annual growth of 12.0%, driven by the expansion of lending in both denars and foreign currency, with the greater impact coming from loans denominated in denars.

According to the purpose of loans approved to individuals, in May the two most common categories, consumer loans and housing loans, posted monthly growth of 1.1% and 1.4% respectively, while the annual growth rates were 11.2% and 16.3%.

In the past six years, from May 2020 to May 2026, housing loans have more than doubled, from 52,959 million denars to 116.017 million denars, or from more than 800 million euros to nearly 2 billion euros. (koha.mk)

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According to the apartment price index, which is based on advertised sale prices rather than completed transaction prices, a quarterly increase of 5.5% was recorded.

Compared with the same period a year earlier, real estate prices were 13.3% higher. However, the National Bank underlined that the pace of growth is showing signs of slowing, as the annual rate had reached 16.6% in the previous quarter.

This index is considered one of the main indicators of developments in the housing market in the capital, as it reflects trends in prices advertised on the market, but not necessarily the final values of transactions.

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