Mickoski: Eurostat's Purchasing Power Report Refutes Opposition Claims — Macedonia Ahead of Every Country in the Region
Responding to opposition criticism over the interpretation of a recent Eurostat purchasing power report, PM Mickoski said Macedonia is not at the bottom, but ahead of every country in the region and several EU member states.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski responded to a reporter's question about opposition criticism related to a recent Eurostat report on minimum wages and purchasing power across Europe — the same report MKNews Hub covered in an earlier article. He made the remarks at the signing of financing agreements for the Kriva Palanka–Deve Bair railway section.
According to Mickoski, in recent days there had been messaging from the opposition and parts of the media suggesting Macedonia sits at the bottom of the European purchasing-power ranking. He said that interpretation did not match the actual data, arguing the country in fact performs better than several EU member states and ahead of every country in the region.
A Dispute Over Interpretation
The statement drew mixed reactions from media outlets. Some outlets reported the prime minister's words as confirmation that the report refutes the opposition's claims. Other, more critical outlets questioned whether the Eurostat document itself contains an explicit conclusion to that effect, noting that the prime minister interpreted the minimum-wage figure (expressed in purchasing power standards) as a broader measure of "purchasing power for all citizens" — a category wider than the minimum wage alone.
The opposition, for its part, maintains that the original interpretation of the data — the one predating the prime minister's response — accurately reflected actual living conditions in the country.
MKNews Hub · Politics · 11 August 2026