The creative industries in Serbia have achieved a growth of 60 percent during the last six years, and during the pandemic they also recorded a growth of 3.6 percent, it was announced today.
The activities of creative industries in Serbia make up more than seven percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Serbia (7.4 percent according to data for 2019) and achieve continuous growth, which in the last six years alone amounts to as much as 60 percent, according to the report of the Economic faculty in Belgrade.
The cumulative growth of exports of the creative industries sector in the period from 2014 to 2020 amounts to 51 percent, while in the same period the total value of realized exports is 2.9 billion euros.
As specified in the report “Analysis of the economic effects of the creative industries sector on the Serbian economy”, in the same period, the gross value added (GVA) of the creative industries sector increased from 1.5 billion euros to 2 billion euros, which is a growth of 32 percent.
“Through various measures, the state has improved the working conditions of this sector in the previous period, and there is still room for improvement, which we are working on continuously. It is especially important that more than half of employees in this sector are young people aged 20 to 45, highly educated, while the percentage of women is between 40 and 45 percent,” said Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.
She added that the development of creative industries and the support of talents, innovators and scientists can build the image of modern Serbia in the world in the best possible way.
“That is why the national platform ‘Serbia creates’ was established, which acts as the national brand of modern Serbia, affirming and encouraging Serbian exceptionalism, innovation and creativity,” Brnabic said.
The announcement of that platform states that the accelerated development of the creative industries sector in Serbia is indicated by the increase in the number of registered companies engaged in some of the 80 activities in the creative industries, innovation and knowledge-based economies, from 45,000 to more than 73,000, which is growth of 62 percent.
The largest number of companies was established in the field of computer programming, video game development industry and production of audiovisual content.
The number of entrepreneurs in that sector almost doubled from 14,000 to 31,000, while their total turnover increased by 466 million euros, or 187 percent.
“We record the direct contribution of creative industries in Serbia through economic influences on the growth of Serbia’s GDP, but also the growth of employment and exports. Significant foreign investments of leading global companies in Serbia have shown that our product is already recognized in the world,” said the assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, Igor Kovacevic, Beta reports.
