Information about Serbia
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Home > Country profiles > Economic and Political Outline
Serbia: Economic and Political Outline
Economic Indicators | Foreign Trade in Figures | Sources of General Economic Information | Political Outline
After several years of economic euphoria, Serbia was hit by the crisis at the end of 2008. Since then, private consumption and investment have regressed. The shy recovery observed since 2010 is essentially driven by foreign demand. The economic model developped by the Serbian authorities now favors exports, considering the contry's assets: its geographic location and the quality of its workforce.
The contraction of the Serbian GDP is mostly due to a sharp fall in domestic demand (-6.8%), resulting from a drop in consumption due to a reduction of buying power, which can be explained by the stagnation of wages and the real depreciation of the dinar as well as by an increase in unemployment. The rate of unemployment, whcih according to the official statistics affects nearly 20% of the workforce, is one of the highest in Europe.
The country again recorded a moderate growth in 2010, thanks to, in particular, the resumption of exports. In 2011 growth reached 2% but should slow down again in 2012. Today, the living standard of the Serbian population only represents 37% of the average living standard in the 27 member states of the EU.
The country's authorities benefit from the support of the European Union and of international financial institutions (World Bank, EIB, EBRD), which are able to mobilize over EUR 1 billion per year in order to modernize the country's infrastructures and support business investment.
In 2012, the government's priority should be to control inflation, as well as to fight against unemployment, which remains of the country's problems.
| Main Indicators | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 (e) | 2013 (e) |
| GDP (billions USD) | 40.14 | 38.01 | 46.44 | 49.01 | 52.52 |
| GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | -3.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
| GDP per Capita (USD) | 5,438 | 5,139 | 6,267 | 6,600 | 7,058 |
| General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 38.2 | 44.9 | 44.1 | 44.5 | 43.1 |
| Inflation Rate (%) | 8.1 | 6.2 | 11.3e | 4.3 | 3.7 |
| Unemployment Rate (% of the Labor Force) | 17.4 | 19.6 | 20.5 | 20.6 | 19.5 |
| Current Account (billions USD) | -2.86 | -2.75 | -3.57e | -4.38 | -4.55 |
| Current Account (in % of GDP) | -7.1e | -7.2e | -7.7e | -8.7 | - |
Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database ; World Bank , Last Available Data
Note: (e) Estimated Data
The agricultural sector represents 10% of the country's national revenue. Serbia has significant quantities of coal, lead, zinc, copper and gold, but the lack of investment which has affected the mining sector for several years prevents the country's economy from benefiting from this wealth.
The industry sector is very outdated and in need of strong foreign investment. It contributes up to 28% to the country's GDP.
Services make up the main sector of activity, representing 62% of Serbia's GDP.
| Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
| Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) | 24.0 | 25.1 | 50.8 |
| Value Added (in % of GDP) | 12.9 | 27.7 | 59.5 |
| Value Added (Annual % Change) | - | - | - |
Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.
Find more information about your business sector on our service Market reports.
| Monetary Indicators | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Serbian Dinar (RSD) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD | 67.15 | 58.45 | 55.72 | 67.58 | 77.73 |
Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.
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Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation
Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.
See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.
Serbia is gradually becoming more open to international trade. The perspective of an association agreement with the European Union and the steady growth of the direct foreign investment inflows should, however, lead to an increase in the volume of foreign trade.
Serbia's main customers are Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany and Montenegro, to whom it exports iron, steel, manufactured goods and foodstuffs (fruits and vegetables, clothing, cereals...). Exports of services are relatively low.
Russia, Germany, Italy and China are Serbia's main suppliers. Serbia buys a great variety of manufactured goods and hydrocarbons.
In the context of the international economic crisis, the deficit in foreign trade - which reached more than EUR 9 billion in 2008-2009, which means an increase of 25% in relation to 2007 - was 6.9 billion in 2010.
The country depends on the economic health of its trading partners and its products are still difficult to sell due to their lack of quality in comparison with other European products. As a result, the trade balance in 2011 was again negative.
| Foreign Trade Indicators | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Imports of Goods (million USD) | 19,164 | 24,331 | 16,056 | 16,730 | 20,139 |
| Exports of Goods (million USD) | 8,825 | 10,972 | 8,345 | 9,795 | 11,777 |
| Imports of Services (million USD) | 3,456 | 4,239 | 3,406 | 3,477 | 3,958 |
| Exports of Services (million USD) | 3,140 | 4,002 | 3,478 | 3,525 | 4,174 |
| Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 26.0 | 9.3 | -17.3 | -4.0 | - |
| Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 17.2 | 8.9 | -12.4 | -0.4 | - |
| Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 54.1 | 53.7 | 45.3 | 47.6 | - |
| Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 30.2 | 30.4 | 28.3 | 30.9 | - |
| Trade Balance (million USD) | -9,649 | -12,518 | -7,129 | -6,344 | - |
| Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) | -10,003 | -12,786 | -7,098 | -6,338 | - |
| Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) | 84.3 | 84.1 | 73.7 | 78.5 | - |
Source: WTO - World Trade Organization ; World Bank , Last Available Data
| Main Customers (% of Exports) |
2010 |
| Italy | 11.4% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 11.1% |
| Germany | 10.3% |
| Montenegro | 8.2% |
| Romania | 6.6% |
| Russia | 5.5% |
| Macedonia | 4.9% |
| Slovenia | 4.3% |
| Austria | 3.5% |
| Croatia | 3.1% |
| Hungary | 3.1% |
| France | 2.8% |
| Bulgaria | 2.5% |
| Ukraine | 2.0% |
| Greece | 1.9% |
| Slovakia | 1.8% |
| Netherlands | 1.6% |
| United Kingdom | 1.6% |
| Czech Republic | 1.4% |
| Belgium | 1.3% |
| See More Countries | 52.3% |
| Main Suppliers (% of Imports) |
2010 |
| Russia | 12.9% |
| Germany | 10.6% |
| Italy | 8.6% |
| China | 7.2% |
| Hungary | 4.8% |
| Romania | 3.6% |
| Bulgaria | 3.5% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3.3% |
| Austria | 3.1% |
| Slovenia | 3.0% |
| France | 2.9% |
| Croatia | 2.6% |
| Poland | 2.4% |
| Slovakia | 2.4% |
| Turkey | 1.9% |
| Czech Republic | 1.9% |
| Ukraine | 1.7% |
| Macedonia | 1.6% |
| United States | 1.5% |
| Netherlands | 1.5% |
| See More Countries | 56.0% |
Source: Comtrade, Last Available Data
Source: Comtrade, Last Available Data
To go further, check out our service Import export flows.
Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).
Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.
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