Author: Tatyana Gracheva

The number of entrepreneurs is growing, the number of farmers is falling

The latest data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia report that the total number of employed persons in Serbia in the second quarter of 2025 reached 2,370,103 (an increase of 0.1 percent compared to the same period last year).
Nevertheless, in spite of the general rise of entrepreneurship in the labour market, the number of agricultural workers is decreasing.
Workers in legal entities, totalling 1,898,531, still represent the majority of the employed, despite a slight decrease (by 485), compared to the second quarter of the previous year.
However, the number of entrepreneurs has also grown and reached 425,321, showing an increase of 7,070 individuals, or around 1.7 percent.
According to official data, there are just over 46,000 registered individual farmers in Serbia, and the number of agricultural workers continues to decline. The decline has attained 7.3 percent, or 3,652 individuals over the course of a year.
The reason of this situation is various issues for which the state has not provided adequate solutions.
There is a similar trend when the data for the second quarter of this year is compared with the first quarter. The increase of employment reaches 5,209 individuals, or 0.2 percent.
The largest increase achieved within this group of employed persons consists of 5,026 individuals, or 1.2 percent, with entrepreneurs again dominating in this case.
The decline of the number of farmers is repeated and general, especially in the second quarter. Then, the number of agricultural workers dropped by 882 individuals, or 1.9 percent, compared to the first quarter.
On the contrary, the number of those employed in legal entities demonstrated a slight increase by 1,065 individuals, or 0.1 percent.
Particularly, clothing factories have shown the biggest decline.
The sectors of protective and investigative activities achieved the highest year-on-year increase in employment (in percentage terms) – 27.7 percent). Then followed information service activities with a growth of 13.5 percent, and repair and installation of machinery and equipment with a growth of 9.9 percent.
On the contrary, architectural and engineering activities, leather and leather products manufacturing, and clothing manufacturing demonstrated the biggest decline (17.7, 15.4 and 12.2 percent respectively).
The reason of this trend is an increasing closure of foreign factories in Serbia, what leaves a lot of workers unemployed. This has also touched the clothing industry, taking into account the closure of Benetton factory in Niš at the beginning of the year.

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10,000 foreigners are deported from Kazakhstan amid crackdown on migration violations

First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Baurzhan Alenov reports the deportation of nearly 10,000 foreign citizens from Kazakhstan since the beginning of 2025 at a recent government meeting addressing migration trends and enforcement measures.

He also underlined a consistent rise in the number of foreign arrivals to the country. More than 7.5 million people entered Kazakhstan in the first half of 2025, while 7.2 million departed. It shows a net increase of 600,000 compared to the same period in 2024. Nearly 90% of those arriving came from post-Soviet states.

As Alenov stated, 97% of foreign citizens comply with migration laws. Nevertheless, there are more than 200,000 individuals who have faced administrative penalties. They have fined 46,000 for violating residency rules, and they have deported almost 10,000 with a five-year ban on re-entry.

Also, over 2,000 employers had to pay fines for the illegal employment of foreign workers. They have opened seven criminal cases against repeat offenders.

Nearly 212,000 foreign nationals reside in Kazakhstan on a permanent basis as of mid-2025. Almaty has the largest concentration (42,000), then follow the Almaty region (32,000), and both Astana and the Karaganda region (17,000 each). The rise of the number of permanent foreign residents over the past three years reached 42%.

There are also around 430,000 temporary foreign residents in Kazakhstan. Among them, there are 360,000 labor migrants, 8,000 students and 44,000 tourists. 17,000 foreigners arrived to reunite with families.

According to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, it needs to enforce migration laws. Over 7,000 violations detected in May alone during nationwide operations are a clear signal for this.

Bektenov said that it is necessary to address such incidents promptly and actively implement digital tools, such as migrant ID cards, issued at border entry points, to improve monitoring and regulation.

The Prime Minister also gave the Ministry of Internal Affairs the instruction to tighten administrative oversight. He called on the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to enhance regulation of private agencies involved in sending Kazakh citizens abroad for work.

Bektenov concluded that these agencies currently operate without accountability or oversight. He expects the Ministries to propose legislative amendments to require licensing of such activities by year’s end. Bektenov also instructed the Ministry of Labor to submit a draft Concept of Migration and Demographic Policy by October 1, aligning with the Concept of Regional Policy being developed through 2030.

According to the data collected by The Times of Central Asia, in 2025 the majority of foreign labor migrants have come to Kazakhstan from China, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and India. They work primarily in the construction sector.

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