- Most Slovaks expect higher living costs in 2026.
- Only a third of respondents expect an increase in monthly household income.
- Most often, people expect an improvement of 50 to 100 euros per month.
Eight out of ten people in Slovakia expect higher living costs in 2026 than last year, less than a third expects a higher household income. This follows from a representative survey for the company Home Credit Slovakia, which was carried out by the agency Ipsos in November 2025.
31% of respondents expect a higher average monthly household income compared to last year, of which 24% slightly higher and 7% significantly higher. More than half of the respondents (52%) assume that their income will not change year-on-year. A decrease in income is expected by 17% of people, while 11% report a slight deterioration and 6% a significant one.
“Survey data showed that a significant increase in income in 2026 is more often expected by people with a monthly income of up to 800 euros and also by people with an apprenticeship. Slightly higher incomes are more often mentioned by respondents aged 27 to 35. Young people between the ages of 18 and 26 or people from single-person households are more likely to have a situation comparable to last year,” said Home Credit analyst Jaroslav Ondrušek.
Of those who expect income growth, most respondents (28%) expect an improvement of 50 to 100 euros per month. In addition, less than 50 euros per month assumes 27% and an increase of 100 to 200 euros another 18%. An increase of more than 500 euros was reported by 5% of respondents and an increase of more than a thousand euros by 4%.
As most expect the cost of living to rise, the survey also asked whether by how much the monthly household income would have to increase to cover the increase in prices. Most often, people mentioned the amount of 100 to 200 euros (27%). Another 24% would need an extra 200 to 300 euros per month, 17% an amount of 300 to 500 euros, and every tenth respondent said they would need at least an extra 500 euros.
15% of respondents definitely want to ask for a salary increase at work in 2026, and another 22% said “rather yes”. About a fifth of the respondents said “rather not” and the same proportion “definitely not”, the rest could not express themselves. Most often, people talk about asking for a salary increase of 5 to 10% (37%), while about 3% of respondents say they would ask for at least a 50% increase.
