Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina: strong, sustained growth, 1990–2025

Reconstruction after the devastating 1992-95 war has been slow, constrained by a complex, ethnically divided political structure that has limited economic reform and foreign investment. Between 1990 and 2025, Bosnia and Herzegovina's GDP per capita grew from $1,743 to $10,382 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 5.8% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 11.2 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 35.9% to 4.4% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 38.3% to 57.7% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 69.6 to 78.0 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 15.4% to 45.5%, while the urban population share grew from 35.8% to 52.7%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 3.52 to 6.45 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) widened from 30.0 to 30.3; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 0.6% to 0.3%.