Serbia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the first nine months of 2024 is estimated at approximately 3.9% year-on-year, according to the latest issue of Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends (MAT).
The first estimate of the year-on-year GDP growth for the third quarter, provided by the Republic of Serbia’s Statistical Office, is around 3.1%.
During this period, industrial production grew by 2.8%, with September seeing a more substantial year-on-year increase of 4.6%.
“Industrial production continues to show positive growth, despite the negative risks stemming from the Eurozone, which is one of Serbia’s key trading partners,” the MAT experts noted.
Additionally, September marked the third consecutive month of increased foreign trade exchange value, although the trend in goods exports remained stagnant, while imports rose, leading to a widening trade deficit.
Since the beginning of the year, Serbia’s budget has registered a surplus of 18.8 billion dinars, an improvement of 32.2 billion dinars compared to the same period in the previous year.
As inflation slowed down, the year-on-year growth of real turnover returned to positive territory and is now around 5% higher than the average for the previous year.
Serbia’s inflation rate in both August and September 2024 remained higher than the European Union (EU) average, with only one EU member experiencing higher inflation.
In August and September 2024, Serbia’s year-on-year inflation stood at 4.4% and 4.3%, respectively, while the EU’s inflation rates were 2.4% and 2.1%.
Among the 27 EU member states, only Romania recorded higher inflation than Serbia in both August and September 2024, with year-on-year inflation rates of 5.3% in August and 4.8% in September.
