The Republic of Serbia has a modern industry that follows the model of the free market. The largest sector of the Serbian industry is the tertiary (service) sector, with 63.8% of GDP.
Then follows the secondary (industrial) sector with 23.5% of GDP) and primary (agricultural) sector with 12.7% of the GDP. The end of the 80s brings the beginning of the economic transition from the planned to the market economy, and Serbia had a favorable position in the region. But that position was lost due to economic sanctions imposed in 1992 – 1995 (which, among other things, resulted in the record-breaking hyperinflation), and the NATO bombing in 1999 as well.
After the democratic reforms in 2000, the Serbian industry has been liberalized and since then follows the exponential economic growth. In 2010, Serbia almost had the highest economic growth among all the countries in the region, which amounted to 1.9% (the real economic growth). Major economic problems in Serbia are a high unemployment rate (19.2%, data measured in October 2013) and high foreign trade deficit ($ 6.9 billion).
The trade deficit decreased drastically compared to 2008, when it reached nearly 12 billion. Also the coverage of imports by exports has increased in 2004 from 32% to the 58.5% in 2010. In recent years, Serbia has received large investments from foreign companies. Average real economic growth in the last 10 years is 4.45%. Serbia offers favorable tax rates, including the incentives for new investors. Low tax rate, such as the tax on corporate profits, is only 10%, making it one of the lowest in the Europe.
More than half of the overal export-import exchange Serbia conducts with the countries of the EU. First on the list of exported goods is corn, then sugar and after that comes the most exported item – the raspberries. Agriculture is the main sector of Serbian economy and actively plays an in important part in forming the gross domestic product with 20%, and if we include the accompanying categories, it’s more than 40%!
The official Serbian currency is the Dinar (RSD).
