Serbia’s external position is increasingly being supported by services rather than goods, with information technology, professional services and transport producing a growing surplus even as Serbian households spend more on travel abroad.
Services exports reached €6.2bn in the first five months of 2026, an increase of 5.7 per cent from the same period last year, according to National Bank of Serbia balance-of-payments data. Imports rose by a more modest 1.1 per cent to €5bn, lifting the services surplus by 30.4 per cent to €1.21bn.
The improvement accelerated in May, when the monthly surplus reached €269mn, almost twice the level recorded a year earlier. Services exports increased 12.9 per cent year on year, compared with import growth of just 2.2 per cent.
This surplus has become an important counterweight to Serbia’s merchandise trade deficit. Goods exports rose 8.3 per cent to €17.97bn during the first half of the year, while imports increased 3.7 per cent to €21.68bn. Although the goods deficit narrowed by 14.1 per cent, it remained substantial at €3.71bn. Services therefore covered almost one-third of that shortfall based on the first five months’ results.
Information and communications technology remained the largest services export category, generating €1.91bn, up 4.3 per cent. Growth was slower than during Serbia’s earlier technology boom, but the sector continued to produce an unusually large net contribution because ICT imports amounted to only €479mn.
Other business services—including engineering, consulting, research, legal, accounting and back-office activities—performed more strongly. Exports increased 7.8 per cent to €1.63bn, while imports declined 5.8 per cent to €951mn. The resulting surplus suggests that Serbia is moving beyond basic outsourcing towards a broader range of internationally traded professional services.
Transport exports advanced 9.5 per cent to €997mn, supported by the country’s position on European road, rail and river corridors. Transport imports fell 3.9 per cent to €1.14bn, sharply reducing the sector’s deficit.
Travel produced the opposite effect. Revenue from foreign visitors increased only 2.5 per cent to €1.05bn, while Serbian residents’ expenditure abroad rose 13 per cent to €1.76bn. The travel deficit consequently widened to more than €700mn, absorbing much of the surpluses generated by ICT and business services.
The geographic profile of services exports also differs significantly from Serbia’s goods trade. The EU accounted for 43.8 per cent of services exports, compared with a much larger majority of merchandise exports. Other European markets represented 29.1 per cent and the Americas 17.8 per cent, with the US, Germany and the UK the principal individual destinations.
This diversification reduces direct exposure to the industrial cycle in Germany and the eurozone. It also provides Serbia with foreign-currency earnings that are less dependent on imported components than manufacturing exports. The benefit is particularly visible when European factory demand is weak, as it has been during much of 2025 and early 2026.
The services model nevertheless brings new vulnerabilities. Technology and professional-services exports depend heavily on skilled labour, wage competitiveness and access to international clients. Rapid salary growth, labour shortages and changes in the taxation of cross-border digital work could weaken margins. Artificial intelligence may also place pressure on lower-value outsourcing while increasing demand for more specialised engineering and software services.
For the balance of payments, the immediate picture is constructive. Serbia’s current-account deficit fell to €561mn in January-May, down almost 69 per cent from a year earlier. The stronger services surplus and narrower goods imbalance drove much of that improvement, providing a more durable source of external adjustment than a compression of domestic demand.
Serbia’s external accounts are no longer determined only by automobile plants, metals and agriculture. The ability of technology companies, logistics providers and professional-services firms to sustain export growth is becoming equally important to the dinar, the current account and the country’s broader credit profile.
