Author: Tatyana Gracheva

Regional differences in Serbia in employment and construction

The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia’s publication “Regions in the Republic of Serbia” reports that 40% of Serbia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generated in the Belgrade region. The Vojvodina region has a 26.4% share. Then come the Šumadija and Western Serbia regions with an 18.4% share and the Southern and Eastern Serbia region with 15.2%.
The publication says that the GDP per capita in the Belgrade region is 58.3% higher than the national average (1.6 million dinars). The average monthly income per household reached 87,973 dinars in 2023, while household expenditures for personal consumption attained 88,244 dinars (an increase by 12.2% compared to 2022).
Regular employment is the largest source of cash income (52.5%), followed by pensions (30.9%), income from agriculture, hunting, and fishing (4%), in-kind consumption (2.6%), income outside of regular employment (2.4%), social security benefits (2.4%) and 5.2% from other sources.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages have the largest share of personal consumption expenditures (36.8% on average, 37.9% in the Southern and Eastern Serbia region and 34.5% in Belgrade).
The largest share of expenditures for housing and utilities (electricity, water, or gas) is held in the Šumadija and Western Serbia region (16.6%), while the smallest one is in the Southern and Eastern Serbia region (16.1%).
Construction work carried out in Serbia in 2023 had the value of approximately 717 billion dinars.
Vojvodina was the leader in 2023 (31%), followed by the Belgrade region (28.4%), Šumadija and Western Serbia (25.2%). The Southern and Eastern Serbia region was last (15.3%).
Buildings had a share of 40.3% of the value of work.
Transport infrastructure, pipelines, communication and electrical lines, complex industrial facilities and other unspecified buildings had a share of nearly 60% of the value of the work.
Residential buildings had a share of 40.1% in the value of work, and non-residential buildings’ share was almost 60%.
They completed a total of 35,652 apartments of the average size of 75.5 m² in 2023.
The average net salary in Serbia in 2023 was 86,007 dinars, while the average gross salary was 118,599 dinars (nominal increase by 14.8% and in real terms by 2.4%, compared to 2022).
The Belgrade region had the highest average net salary, amounting to 109,431 dinars (nominally 15.4% higher than in 2022).
The Šumadija and Western Serbia region had the lowest average net salary (71,642 dinars).
The Belgrade region had the highest employment rate (55.5%) and the lowest unemployment rate (7.1%). The Southern and Eastern Serbia region had the lowest employment rate (44.7%). In the Vojvodina region and the Šumadija and Western Serbia region the unemployment rate was 9% and 9.8%, respectively. The highest unemployment rate at 12.8% was recorded in the Southern and Eastern Serbia regions.

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