Data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia report that China was the largest Serbia’s import partner in 2024 (USD 481.6 million), and Germany was its largest export partner (USD 363.6 million).
60% of Serbia’s total trade in goods the EU were accounted for in 2023. The Statistical Office reports that in spite of increase of Serbia’s foreign trade in goods by 3.9% in January- September 2024, the trade deficit grew up by 20.4% compared to the same period last year. The deficit with China attained USD 316.5 million, with Germany -USD 89.6 million. Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Italy and Romania are the most important foreign trade partners in exports in September 2024, while China, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Poland are the most important partners in imports.
About 60% of goods are exempted from customs duties according to a Free Trade Agreement signed by Serbia with China on July 1, 2024. Nevertheless, Serbia is still not included in Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Serbia can carry out financial transactions with the EU easily, but it can’t get commission costs reduced. As the National Bank of Serbia says, that the process of harmonizing domestic banking systems with SEPA standards has been underway since 2014, and they are only waiting for the green light from the European Union. According to Bloomberg, Serbia’s entry into SEPA could take up to two months compared to the originally planned deadline – January 1, 2025.
As the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia states in the December edition of MAT (Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends), Serbia has found an alternative to subdued demand from the EU this year in the markets of China and Turkey and achieved a 1.9% growth in goods exports.
The same data show an increase of exports by 65% to China and by 80% to Turkey from September 2023 to September 2024.
As the EU states for You website, four billion euros in grants and seven billion euros in soft loans have been invested by the European Union in the last ten years. Contraversely, data from the National Bank of Serbia show that China invested EUR 5.5 billion in the period from 2010 to 2023.
The 15 largest exporters from Serbia in 2023 had the export value of seven billion euros. Bloomberg reports that Chinese companies that sell copper, gold and steel on foreign markets (China Railway International Co Ltd, China Communications Construction Company Ltd., Linglong International) achieved a third of that amount.
NH Logistics SER has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Serbia and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.
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