Results of the most profitable SMEs’ ranking

There are three legal criteria classifying entities and entrepreneurs according to Serbia’s Accounting Act: the average number of employees, operating revenue, and the total value of assets.
So, enterprises with more than 250 employees, revenue exceeding 40 million euros, and assets worth more than 20 million euros are large. An enterprise with fewer than 10 employees is micro. An enterprise between 10 and 50 employees and a revenue between 0.7 and 8 million euros and assets worth between 0.4 and 4 million euros is small. An enterprise between 50 and 250 employees and a revenue from 8 to 40 million euros and assets from 4 to 20 million euros is medium-sized.
As of 2024, 85 % of 113,000 enterprises in Serbia were micro enterprises, and their turnover was only 2.8 trillion dinars. Large enterprises produced more than 40 % of total turnover (7.8 trillion dinars).
Wholesale and retail enterprises and those engaged in trade and the repair of motor vehicles made 28 % of the total number of companies. Then followed manufacturing (14 %). Information and communication were the most dynamic sectors of the domestic economy (more than 8,500 enterprises in 2024 and 7.5 % of the total number of active enterprises).
Last year large enterprises employed almost 600,000 workers, or 44 per cent of the total number (1.34 million).
However, net result of 2024 was positive for the domestic economy (866.3 billion dinars, around 10 % lower than the previous year). Large enterprises contributed to the overall economic result, by generating a profit of 439.3 billion dinars, or about half of the total final result. Net profits of small and medium-sized enterprises were 209.2 billion and 206.9 billion dinars, respectively. The contribution of micro enterprises to the overall final result was 10.8 billion dinars.
Also, net profit of 108.8 billion dinars was generated by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises on the Top 150 list, ranked by profit.
According to domestic regulations, a company may operate without employees, but it must have a legal representative (director), who usually has an employment contract and sometimes a separate management contract.
In 2024 almost one-fifth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia among the top 150 by net profit achieved function without any employees. They have mostly directly or indirectly connections with the real estate market. These companies may be newly established or in the initial phase of development, or holding companies and passive companies established to hold assets or investments. They can rent out own or lease property, development of construction projects, property management, construction of residential and non-residential buildings, and so on.
On the contrary, in wholesale and retail trade, professional, scientific, innovation and technical activities, as well as manufacturing and construction companies without employees are rare.

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