A new economic report presented at the closing conference of the Western Balkans Regional Creative Network has confirmed that Serbia’s creative industries are one of the fastest-growing segments of the national economy, contributing a significant share to overall output and employment. The report, prepared by the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, shows that in 2023 the creative sector accounted for 8.0 percent of Serbia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 9.3 percent of gross domestic value added (GDV), exceeding the economic contribution of agriculture, financial services, construction and real estate sectors.
The creative industries now employ approximately 189,000 people, representing 8.2 percent of total national employment, with a substantial share of workers (42 percent) holding higher education degrees and a majority (62 percent) aged between 25 and 45 years. The average net salary in the creative sector reached 178,000 Serbian dinars in 2023, more than twice the national average, underlining the sector’s role in high-skill, high-earning job creation.
According to the report, one in seven businesses in Serbia operates within the creative industries, a cluster that encompasses 52 distinct activities ranging from film and audiovisual production, music, performing arts, design and architecture to publishing, media, marketing, information technology and gaming, as well as cultural heritage, museums, visual arts and crafts. The total value of exports from the sector across 2022 and 2023 exceeded USD 1.3 billion, with the creative industries accounting for about 2.2 percent of Serbia’s total export volume over the period.
The findings highlight the rapidly expanding role of creative sectors in Serbia’s broader economic landscape, driven by intellectual capital, technological convergence and strong export performance, and point to continued growth potential as the country integrates further into international creative markets.
