Serbia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in serbia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Investment Climate Statement
Last published date:

The U.S. Department of State’s Investment Climate Statements help U.S. companies make informed business decisions by providing up-to-date information on the investment climates of more than 170 countries and economies.  They are prepared by our embassies and consulates around the world and analyze each economy’s openness to foreign investment.  Topics include:

  • Openness to, and Restrictions upon, Foreign Investment,

  • Investment and Taxation Treaties,

  • Legal Regime,

  • Industrial Policies,

  • Protection of Property Rights,

  • Financial Sector,

  • State-owned Enterprises,

  • Corruption,

  • Labor Policies and Practices,

  • Political and Security Environment, and

  • U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs

Each statement provides a starting point for U.S. firms and offers a point of contact at the relevant U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

These reports are also a resource for foreign governments to create business environments that ensure fair treatment for the United States and our companies and investors. 

To access the full Investment Climate Statement, visit the U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statements website.

Executive Summary - Serbia

Serbia’s investment climate has modestly improved in recent years, driven by financial stability, fiscal discipline, and reforms supported by the European Union (EU). Attracting foreign investment continues to be a priority for Serbia. IMF engagement coupled with reasonable fiscal policies contribute to a generally good macroeconomic environment that reassures sovereign bond buyers, likely allowing Serbia to secure more favorable borrowing rates and maintain a healthy debt-to-GDP ratio below 50 percent. In October 2024, S&P gave Serbia its first-ever investment-grade rating, raising it to “BBB-” from “BB+” with a stable outlook. U.S. investors are generally positive about Serbia due to the location, well-educated labor force, competitive (but rising) labor costs, generous investment incentives, and free-trade arrangements with the EU and other markets. U.S. investors generally enjoy a level playing field.

Challenges remain, including bureaucracy, corruption, inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a large informal sector, and an inefficient judiciary. Political influence is also a concern; for example, in response to 2022 protests the government halted a proposed lithium project. While mostly EU-supported reforms to improve privatization, procurement, labor law, permitting, and other areas continue, implementation is not always rapid or thorough. If the government delivers on EU accession related reforms, business opportunities should continue to grow. Sectors that stand to benefit include agriculture and agro-processing, solid-waste management, environmental protection, information and communications technology (ICT), energy, health care, mining, and manufacturing. Digitizing certain government functions (e.g., construction permitting and tax administration) has not yet dramatically improved processing times and lacks consistent implementation. The government is making gradual progress in addressing inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs), having begun implementation of its landmark SOE governance law in September 2024, in line with OECD guidelines. The law is designed to improve SOE performance and consolidate state ownership under the Ministry of Economy. Initial bylaws were adopted in September, with the remainder expected in early 2025. The government also plans to privatize 43 additional companies and is slowly downsizing Serbia’s bloated public-sector and SOE workforce, primarily through attrition and hiring caps.

On November 1, 2024, a newly renovated train station’s canopy in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. The tragedy, widely seen as the result of corruption, ignited a large protest movement, led by university students. In response to the protests, the Prime Minister resigned, effective March 2025. The ruling party-led coalition formed a new government on April 16. As of April 2025, the government claims continuing protests are negatively affecting Serbia’s economy while critics claim the government is using sterner rhetoric and other means to intimidate protesters, including through arrests, negative media portrayals of protesters, and deportations of some non-Serbians.

In 2023, Serbia was elected to host the Specialized Exhibition Expo 2027, which presents opportunities for U.S. companies to supply equipment and services.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022 initially had a limited economic impact on Serbia, but inflation surged, peaking at 16.2 percent, year on year, in March 2023 but dropped steadily to 4.5 percent in February 2025. As of April 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list of sanctioned entities included 30 companies and 20 individuals in Serbia, some, but not all, in relation to Russia. On January 10, 2025, OFAC sanctioned the majority Russia-owned petroleum and gas company NIS, which is based in Serbia, with those sanctions scheduled to come into force on June 27, 2025, if there are no delays or licenses issued. View the 2025 Serbia Investment Climate Statement on this site:  https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-investment-climate-statements/serbia/. 

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