Gross domestic product

 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant price of Serbian economy stood at USD 871.06 billion in 2010. The state registered a GDP growth of 0.95%, compared to 2009.

GDP Growth Rate

(Source: NBS, World Bank)

 Gross National Income at current market prices

 In the year 2010, Gross National Income (GNI) of the country was USD 3,753,266.67 million as compared to USD 3,943,770.27 million in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics, World Bank)

 GNI per capita

 GDP per capita of Serbia was USD 11,090 in the year 2010.

(Source: UNDP, World Bank)

 Income Tax Rate

 In Serbia, the highest tax rate on individual income is 15%. Salaries of individuals are taxed at 12% and other income is taxed at up to 20%.

 Corporate tax

 Corporate profit tax rate is 10% in Serbia.

(Source: heritage.org, DoingBusiness.org)

Inflation Rate

(Source: NBS)

Inflation rate of the country was on a continuous decline till July 2010, after which it started to rise. In December 2010, the country’s inflation rate was registered at 8.8%.

FDI Inflow

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Serbia was EUR 1,002.29 million in the period January to November 2010. Netherland was the major investor to the total inflow of FDI with EUR 221.31 million.

Serbia’s FDI in other countries amounted to EUR 266.43 million in the period January to November 2010. Major investment was made in Netherlands with an investment of EUR 23.54 million.

Portfolio Investment Inflow in Serbia stood at EUR 44.8 million as of September 2010, which grew by 7.2% over the corresponding period of previous year.

(Source: NBS, NBS)

Banking sector assets

Total assets of national Bank of Serbia stood at RSD 1,188,794 million at the end of 2010, which grew by 4.64% over the same period of previous year.

(Source: NBS)

Consumer Price Index

(Source: National Statistics)

 Serbia’s consumer price index observed a steady rise from December 2009. Consumer price index stood at 161.4 in December 2010 as compared to 146.2 in December 2009.

Producer Price Index

(Source: UNECE)

The country’s Producer Price Index is on a steady rise from 2001. It was registered at 160.4 in 2010 as compared to 142.3 in 2009.

 Interest rate on deposits

(Source: NBS)

 Interest rates on household deposit

(Source: NBS)

 Interest rates Legal Entities deposit

(Source: NBS)

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

Money in circulation in December 2011 amounted to RSD 114,190 million as compared to RSD 91,750 million in December 2010.

(Source: NBS, NBS)

Government Expenditure

 The total expenditure for the year 2010 was RSD 1,359.9 billion, which grew by 7.26% over the previous year.

(Source: MOF)

Official exchange rate

(Source: NBS)

Government Financial well-being

Fiscal balance

The country’s fiscal deficit is continuously increasing from 2006. In the year 2011, the fiscal deficit was RSD 19,037.2 millions as compared to a deficit of RSD 16,691.3 million in 2010.

(Source: NBS)

Total Revenue

Total revenue of the country stood at RSD 1,223.4 million in the year 2010, which increased by 6.7% over the previous year.

(Source: MOF)

Tax revenue

Total tax revenue of the nation was RSD 1,056.5 billion in the year 2010, which decrease by 5.61% over the previous year. Tax revenue is the major contributor to the total revenues of the nation.

(Source: MOF)

Total Grants

Total grants received by the country in 2010 amounted to RSD 7.4 billion as compared to RSD 6.5 million in 2009.

(Source: MOF)

Current Account Balance – Surplus/Deficit

The country’s economy registered current account deficit in the last six fiscals. The current account deficit in 2011 amounted to USD 4,121.4 million as compared to a deficit of USD 2,795.0 million in 2010.

(Source: NBS)

Balance of Payments

(Source: NBS)

Proportion of population of working age

 Of the total population, 84.59% of people are of working age i.e. above 15 years of age.

 Labour Force

Serbia had a total labour force of 2.94 million in October 2010, of which 2.38 million people were employed accounting for 80.78% of the total labour force. Of the total labour force, 0.56 million people were unemployed and accounted for 19.22% of the labour force. Females and males accounted for 43.94% and 56.81% of the labour force respectively.

Unemployment rate of Serbia was recorded at 19.2% in October 2010.

(Source: National Statistics)

 Labour force participation rate

 Labour force participation rate in Serbia was 58.85% in October 2010.

 (Source: National Statistics)

Employment in Agriculture

 Total labour employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing was 0.52 million which accounts for 21.9% of the employed population. (Source: National Statistics)

Level of Unionisation

 Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia is one of the oldest trade unions of Serbia. The Confederation is comprised of 29 professional federations and 106 local federations. It has 850,000 members and covers all sectors in the country. (Source: sindikat.rs)

Minimum wage

The average salary in Serbia is 310 Euros per month. (Source: sindikat.rs)

Government stability

Serbia split from the union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. The country had a period of political instability prior to 2009.

Serbia has a republican system of government. The government holds executive powers in Serbia. The government is elected by deputies in the National Assembly. The executive powers are exercised by the Prime Minister and the cabinet. The legislative power is exercised through the National Assembly.

President is the head of the state of Republic of Serbia and represents the country internationally. The President has the power to approve laws and also propose candidates for office to the parliament of Serbia. The President is also in command of the military, and has the authority to appoint officers of the army.

The National Assembly is the supreme representative body and holds constitution and legislative powers. The National Assembly is comprised of 250 deputies, which are directly elected for period of four years.

Major political parties in Serbia include:

·         Demokratska Stranka    

·         G17 Plus

·         Srpska Radikalna Stranka

·         Socijaldemokratska Partija Srbije (SDP)  

(Source: Serbia.travel, President’s Office, Government of Serbia, Government of Serbia, Parties and Election.de)

Regulatory environment

Serbia’s economic freedom score is 58 which make its economy 101^st freest in 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. It was ranked 38^th out of 43 countries in the European region.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Serbia, with a score of 3.5, was ranked 78^th in the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of Information

Press and media in Serbia in the country have moderate levels of restriction. Republic of Serbia is ranked 85^th on the world Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 23. The country’s ranking slipped from 62^nd in 2009.

(Source: rsf.org)

Judicial system

Judicial system in Serbia operates independently. Judicial powers in Serbia are unique on the territory of Serbia. The judicial power is exercised through general jurisdiction courts and specialised courts.

General Jurisdiction Courts:

·         Municipal and district courts

·         Appellate courts

·         Supreme Court

Specialised courts:

·         High commercial court

·         Commercial court

·         Magistrate’s courts

·         The high magistrate’s court

·         The administrative court

The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice in the country.

(Source: Ministry of Justice)

As of 2010, the total population of Serbia was 7.29 million. The country’s male population was 3.61 million whereas female population was 3.68 million. In October 2010, male and females population accounted for 48.68% and 51.32% of total population respectively. The country’s gender ratio in 2009 was 97.9 males per 100 females.

68.05% of the population is in the age group of 15 to 64 years, followed by 17.06% in the age group 0-14 and 14.35% in the age group above 65 years.

 (Source: National Statistics, UN, World Bank)

Birth and Death Rate

The birth rate was registered at 9.4 births per 1,000 persons in the year 2010. Mortality rate was recorded at 14.2 deaths per 1,000 persons. Infant mortality rate stood at 6.1 infant deaths per 1,000 births. The death rate was 14.2 per 1000 people in 2010.

(Source: World Bank)

Life Expectancy

In 2009, median age of the population was 41.4 years. The average life expectancy of the male population was 71.4 years and 76.6 years for females.

(Source: National Statistics, World Bank)

Migration and Urbanisation

In mid-2010, the international migrant stock was recorded at 525,400 people or 5.3% of the total population. Major part of population is urbanised as 3.82 million people live in urban area, accounting for 52.40% of the total population.

(Source: UN data, National Statistics, World Bank)

Ethnic Environment

Serbia is a multi-ethnic country. Major ethnic groups are Serbian (82.86%), Hungarians (3.91%), Bosniaks (1.81%), Roma (1.44%) and Yugoslavs (1.08%). Other ethnic groups include Croatians, Albanians, Romanians and Germans.

(Source: Serbia.travel)

Human Development Index (HDI)

Serbia stood at 60^th rank on the HDI 2010, conducted by the United Nations. HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Education/literacy rate

Literacy rate in age group of 15 to 24 years is estimated at 99% in the year 2008.

(Source: World Bank)

Education resources

In 2006-07, Serbia had 3,551 primary education schools and 472 schools for secondary education. In the year 2006, the country had 238,710 students in higher and university education, of which 131,988 were females. There were 6,331 postgraduate students in the year 2005 of which 3,374 were females.

The public expenditure on education is about 4.5% of the GDP.

(Source: National Statistics, UNDP)

Healthcare resources

Health care system in Serbia follows mandatory medical insurance. Local companies in the country provide private health insurance in the country.

The country’s public expenditure on health is approximately 6.1% of the GDP.

(Source: SIEPA, UNDP)

Mass public transit

The total length of the road network in the country is 40,845 km, which includes 5,525 km of state roads category I, 11,540 km of state roads category II and 23,780 km of local roads.

Total route length of railways in Serbia is 3,808.74 km, of which 1196.05 km is electrified.

(Source: Serbian Railways, PE Roads of Serbia)

Ports

The port of Belgrade is the only port in Serbia.

(Source: world port)

Airports

(Source: Aircraft charter world)

Telecommunications networks

(Source: National Statistics, World Bank)

As of 2011, the country has 4.1 million internet users, which account for 56.2% of the total population.

(Source: internetworldstat.com)