According to data from the Republic Institute for Statistics (RZS), Serbia’s agriculture and agro-industry sectors have made only a minimal contribution to the country’s GDP growth from 2001 to 2023. The agricultural sector contributed just 0.11 percentage points, and the agro-industry sector added only 0.08 percentage points to the country’s average GDP growth of 3.2%.
Despite these contributions, the agriculture sector’s share in GDP remained at 6.21%, while the agro-industry’s share was at 3.8%. A comparative analysis of transition countries showed that Serbia, alongside Romania, had the largest share of agriculture’s gross added value in GDP, at four percent and three percent respectively. However, Serbia’s agricultural production and services remain significantly lower compared to countries like Denmark.
The structural changes in Serbia’s agriculture are strongly influenced by adverse demographic trends in rural areas. The rural population is decreasing at double the rate of the total population, with a decline of 22.8% over the last two decades. The aging rural population and the low educational level of rural residents—only 10% have tertiary education—are contributing factors.
The results of Serbia’s agricultural census in 2023 highlight unfavorable trends, such as the decreasing use of agricultural land, particularly meadows and pastures, and a reduction in available land for farming. Over the past decade, available agricultural land has decreased by 26.2%, with forest areas seeing a significant decline of 50.7%. The structure of used agricultural land has also shifted, with arable land and gardens slightly increasing, while areas for meadows, pastures, and vineyards have significantly decreased.
This demographic and structural transformation in the agricultural sector poses long-term challenges to Serbia’s rural economy and the overall growth of its agricultural output.
