Serbia Economy - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Economic overview

upper middle-income Balkan economy; current EU accession candidate; hit by COVID-19; pursuing green growth development; manageable public debt; new anticorruption efforts; falling unemployment; historic Russian relations; energy import-dependent

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$135.534 billion (2021 est.)

$126.019 billion (2020 est.)

$127.168 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

7.55% (2021 est.)

-0.9% (2020 est.)

4.33% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$19,800 (2021 est.)

$18,300 (2020 est.)

$18,300 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$51.449 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.09% (2021 est.)

1.58% (2020 est.)

1.85% (2019 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: BB+ (2019)

Moody's rating: Ba3 (2017)

Standard & Poors rating: BB+ (2019)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 9.8% (2017 est.)

industry: 41.1% (2017 est.)

services: 49.1% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 78.2% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 10.1% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 18.5% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 2% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 52.5% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -61.3% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

maize, wheat, sugar beet, milk, sunflower seed, potatoes, soybeans, plums/sloes, apples, barley

Industries

automobiles, base metals, furniture, food processing, machinery, chemicals, sugar, tires, clothes, pharmaceuticals

Industrial production growth rate

8.63% (2021 est.)

Labor force

3.176 million (2021 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 19.4%

industry: 24.5%

services: 56.1% (2017 est.)

Unemployment rate

11.81% (2021 est.)

9.01% (2020 est.)

10.39% (2019 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 30.4%

male: 28.5%

female: 33.7% (2021 est.)

Population below poverty line

23.2% (2018 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

34.5 (2019 est.)

Average household expenditures

on food: 25.6% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco: 7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.2%

highest 10%: 23.8% (2011)

Budget

revenues: $21.858 billion (2020 est.)

expenditures: $25.72 billion (2020 est.)

note: data include both central government and local goverment budgets

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

0.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

62.5% of GDP (2017 est.)

73.1% of GDP (2016 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

23.49% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Current account balance

-$2.742 billion (2021 est.)

-$2.177 billion (2020 est.)

-$3.535 billion (2019 est.)

Exports

$33.726 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$25.5 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$26.127 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Exports - partners

Germany 12%, Italy 10%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 7%, Romania 6%, Russia 5%  (2019)

Exports - commodities

insulated wiring, tires, corn, cars, iron products, copper (2019)

Imports

$39.039 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$30.177 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$31.286 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - partners

Germany 13%, Russia 9%, Italy 8%, Hungary 6%, China 5%, Turkey 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

crude petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, natural gas, refined petroleum (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$18.617 billion (31 December 2021 est.)

$16.587 billion (31 December 2020 est.)

$14.995 billion (31 December 2019 est.)

Debt - external

$30.927 billion (2019 est.)

$30.618 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

Serbian dinars (RSD) per US dollar -

99.396 (2021 est.)

103.163 (2020 est.)

105.25 (2019 est.)

100.175 (2018 est.)

107.759 (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Serbia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Serbia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Serbia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.