Serbia

Serbia: strong, sustained growth, 1995–2025

Post-Yugoslav-war economic reconstruction and sanctions in the 1990s gave way to gradual EU-accession-linked reform and foreign manufacturing investment in the 2000s and 2010s. Between 1995 and 2025, Serbia's GDP per capita grew from $2,349 to $15,262 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 3.2% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 3.9 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 14.2% to 3.3% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 44.1% to 59.7% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 71.0 to 76.0 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 37.8% to 70.6%, while the urban population share grew from 46.2% to 62.6%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: income inequality (Gini index) widened from 32.7 to 32.8; the poverty headcount ratio increased from 0.4% to 1.1%.