We study the effects of North Macedonia's 2017 minimum wage reform - the largest in the country's history - using matched employer-employee administrative data covering the entire range of firms and employees, and a difference-in-differences design based on firms' pre-reform share of minimum...

This assessment focuses solely on government expenditures on sustainable long-term care (LTC) for the elderly, as requested by the The Government of North Macedonia (GoNM). It does not attempt to calculate the costs of the provision of uncompensated informal care by family and friends, nor does...

North Macedonia is undergoing a rapid demographic transition characterized by population ageing and a sharp rise in long-term care (LTC) needs. While the total population is projected to decline, the number of older people requiring care is expected to increase substantially over the coming...

This study identifies the minimum economic and institutional conditions that candidate countries must meet to ensure macroeconomic stability, sustainable growth, and effective integration into the EU, under a politically accelerated enlargement process. In the area of external accounts,...

This report describes the bioeconomy policy developments in Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine, associated to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. The work extends the geographic coverage of the...

The banking sector in the Western Balkan countries has changed dramatically in recent years. A variety of factors have contributed to these changes, such as economic growth, increased competition, and the implementation of new regulations. As a result, the profitability of the banking sector...

The Western Balkan economies have faced numerous external shocks in recent years, while simultaneously becoming more integrated with the European Union. This paper employs a global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model to estimate the spillovers of real, financial, monetary, and global commodity...

The population of North Macedonia has been steadily declining over the past two decades and is projected to continue to decline into the foreseeable future due to emigration. This paper estimates an expected cost of the population decline on potential output growth of around 0.5 percentage...

This Selected Issues paper examines the expected costs of the population decline on potential output growth in New Macedonia. The IMF estimates that the population decline would create a drag on output growth of around 0.5 percentage points. Increased emigration, potentially driven by further EU...

The 2025 Article IV Consultation discusses that economic growth in North Macedonia is gaining momentum in an environment of increased uncertainty. A credible fiscal strategy is essential to rebuilding buffers, reducing debt and ensuring compliance with fiscal rules. This is key to maintaining...

Economic governance is a key aspect of the EU enlargement process, mirroring efforts in the EU to strengthen economic policy coordination and multilateral surveillance under the European Semester. The Annual Economic and Financial Dialogue with Regional Partners aims to prepare these (potential)...

This paper aims to explore the feasibility of establishing a digital participation bank in North Macedonia based on the principles of interest-free finance. This system has been part of ethical and equitable financial systems in the major Abrahamic religions. Thus, as interestfree finance...

The overall objective of this joint country visit to North Macedonia was to discuss and review the advancement of a One Health approach against AMR through: the identification of strengths and weaknesses in the current national AMR strategies, action plans and intersectoral coordination...

Following the election of the new government in North Macedonia in June 2024, the World Bank Group prepared 16 sector-specific Policy Notes suggesting three focus areas to support faster, more resilient, and sustainable economic growth in North Macedonia

People in many parts of North Macedonia are exposed to more toxic particulate matter air pollution than their neighbors in Western Europe. The burning of solid fuels for heating in homes and other buildings is a main driver of high ambient concentrations of particulate matter air pollution,...

Monetary policies have one of the key roles in the creation of economic policies of all countries of the world. Although the main task of monetary policy is to regulate the required amount of money, the objectives of monetary policy can have a development and stabilization character, which...

The main objective of this paper is to develop a framework for household financial vulnerability in the Macedonian economy. To this end, a methodology has been introduced based on the liquidity approach of analysing vulnerability, and the debt service-to-income (DSTI) indicator and the relative...

The concept of Working Styles, rooted in Kahler's driver theory and later operationalised by Hay, offers a lens for understanding how individuals habitually approach tasks and interpersonal demands. This study investigates the prevalence and configuration of Working Styles among 40 eighth- and...

This article examines how corruption operates as a gendered informal institution that restricts women’s substantive political empowerment in post-socialist democracies. Focusing on North Macedonia, we argue that clientelism and male-dominated party networks function as gatekeeping mechanisms...

Migrationspolitik ist mittlerweile ein zentrales Thema bei Wahlen. In der Debatte um eine bessere Steuerung von Migration kommen wesentliche Aspekte allerdings zu kurz. So sind wir in Deutschland längst auf Erwerbsmigration angewiesen, zugewanderte Arbeitskräfte kompensieren den...

This report describes the employment and social situation of young people in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - the WB6) and also looks at employment in Türkiye. It focuses on young people because they were particularly hard...

The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that is designed to identify potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States of the European Union and in Candidate Countries. This narrative report has been produced on the basis of the implementation of the MPM that was carried out...

Soil contamination in the Western Balkans is a significant challenge, hampered by inadequate legal frameworks, lack of comprehensive field data, and insufficient site investigations. This report aims to support the JRC's efforts to fill information gaps on soil pollution across the Western...

This paper presents a calibrated DSGE model of the economy of North Macedonia that was developed at the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRNM) within a technical assistance project delivered jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Czech National Bank (CNB). The...

This paper empirically analyses the determining factors of the growth in the migration rate in the countries of the Western Balkans. The analysis is carried out with panel data over 17 years from 2005 to 2021. The purpose of this paper is to analyse social variables such as unemployment and...

The present report compiling and analysing data for indicators regarding the monitoring of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for the Region of Western Macedonia, Greece, was developed under the expert contract nr. CT-EX2015D230484-102 between the European Commission and the expert...

This report describes the external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for the European Legionnaires' disease Surveillance network, for the detection, isolation, identification, and enumeration of Legionella species. The EQA schemes provide an outbreak scenario with packages of clinical and...

ECDC is helping countries in the Western Balkans and Türkiye to improve their infectious disease prevention and control systems and public health workforce to prepare them for their future participation in ECDC's work. Technical cooperation with Western Balkans and Türkiye aims to improve...

The importance of the development of teachers' digital competence for successful digital education and training and of their role in developing students' digital competence has been recognised in recent European policies on digital education (DEAP 2021-2027; European Commission 2020) and on the...

The importance of the development of teachers' digital competence for successful digital education and training and of their role in developing students' digital competence has been recognised in recent European policies on digital education (DEAP 2021-2027; European Commission 2020) and on the...

The agricultural sector is a cornerstone of social and economic life in the Western Balkan (WB) countries. However, it faces challenges of slow productivity growth, limited access to assets, and vulnerability to external shocks like climate change. Agricultural policies are crucial to enhance...

Insurance companies play a pivotal role in the financial systems of developing countries, wielding substantial influence on systemic financial stability. Thus, understanding their efficiency, performance, and sustainability is paramount for policymakers and stakeholders alike. The aim of this...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on challenges and policies regarding climate change in the Republic of North Macedonia. A scale-up of private and public investments, along with decommission of old and polluting coal-based power plants, is needed to adapt to climate change and meet emissions...

This paper discusses Republic of North Macedonia's 2023 Article IV Consultation and First Review under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL). The authorities are progressing toward PLL objectives, encompassing the safeguarding of public finances, reduction of energy subsidies, addressing...

Since 25 June 2024, the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) have been engaging in accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. The EU wants and needs to provide a strategic response to new geopolitical challenges, especially the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same...

Public procurement in North Macedonia amounted to 16 percent of total government expenditure in 2018, or 5 percent of gross domestic product. The country's public procurement is also vulnerable to corruption risks, which typically push prices up, leading to overspending. To support better budget...

Migrationspolitik ist mittlerweile ein zentrales Thema bei Wahlen. In der Debatte um eine bessere Steuerung von Migration kommen wesentliche Aspekte allerdings zu kurz. So sind wir in Deutschland längst auf Erwerbsmigration angewiesen, zugewanderte Arbeitskräfte kompensieren den...

This report describes the employment and social situation of young people in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - the WB6) and also looks at employment in Türkiye. It focuses on young people because they were particularly hard...

The Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption on Economic Growth: Evidence from Developed and Developing European Countries -- Why do they leave? An empirical study on migration determinants in the Western Balkans -- Analysis of the business result of the Airbnb platform in post Covid-19 time --...