Serbia

Country Summary

2022 population pyramid

Introduction

Background

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. In 1989, Yugoslavia broke up along ethnic lines. In 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence, followed by Bosnia in 1992. Montenegro and Serbia declared independence in 2006.

Geography

Area

total: 77,474 sq km

land: 77,474 sq km

water: 0 sq km

Climate

in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well-distributed rainfall); in other parts, continental and Mediterranean climate (relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall and hot, dry summers and autumns)

Natural resources

oil, gas, coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, chromite, gold, silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, arable land

People and Society

Population

6,739,471 (2022 est.)

Ethnic groups

Serb 83.3%, Hungarian 3.5%, Romani 2.1%, Bosniak 2%, other 5.7%, undeclared or unknown 3.4% (2011 est.)

Languages

Serbian (official) 88.1%, Hungarian 3.4%, Bosnian 1.9%, Romani 1.4%, other 3.4%, undeclared or unknown 1.8%; note - Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, and Ruthenian (Rusyn) are official in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina; most ethnic Albanians boycotted the 2011 census (2011 est.)

Religions

Orthodox 84.6%, Catholic 5%, Muslim 3.1%, Protestant 1%, atheist 1.1%, other 0.8% (includes agnostics, other Christians, Eastern, Jewish), undeclared or unknown 4.5% (2011 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.75% (2022 est.)

Government

Government type

parliamentary republic

Capital

name: Belgrade (Beograd)

Executive branch

chief of state: President Aleksandar VUCIC (since 31 May 2017)

head of government: Prime Minister Ana BRNABIC (since 29 June 2017)

Legislative branch

description: unicameral National Assembly or Narodna Skupstina (250 seats; members directly elected by party list proportional representation vote in a single nationwide constituency to serve 4-year terms)

Economy

Economic overview

upper middle-income Balkan economy; current EU accession candidate; hit by COVID-19; pursuing green growth development; manageable public debt; new anticorruption efforts; falling unemployment; historic Russian relations; energy import-dependent

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$125.8 billion (2020 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$18,200 (2020 est.)

Agricultural products

maize, wheat, sugar beet, milk, sunflower seed, potatoes, soybeans, plums/sloes, apples, barley

Industries

automobiles, base metals, furniture, food processing, machinery, chemicals, sugar, tires, clothes, pharmaceuticals

Exports

$25.42 billion (2020 est.)

Exports - partners

Germany 12%, Italy 10%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 7%, Romania 6%, Russia 5%  (2019)

Exports - commodities

insulated wiring, tires, corn, cars, iron products, copper (2019)

Imports

$30.15 billion (2020 est.)

Imports - partners

Germany 13%, Russia 9%, Italy 8%, Hungary 6%, China 5%, Turkey 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

crude petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, natural gas, refined petroleum (2019)

Exchange rates

Serbian dinars (RSD) per US dollar -


Page last updated: Wednesday, June 15, 2022