More than half of companies in the trade sector (57.4 percent) rated the business climate in the first quarter of 2025 as worse compared to the previous quarter, while 37.3 percent considered it unchanged.
Regarding expectations, 18.1 percent of companies expect a worse business climate in the second quarter, while around 47 percent expect it to remain unchanged, according to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce survey on the business activity of the domestic economy.
Around 54.2 percent of trade companies recorded a drop in turnover in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, 29.3 percent assessed business turnover as unchanged, while 16.5 percent of respondents rated turnover as higher compared to the previous quarter. A large number of companies (51.3 percent) expect a higher level of turnover in the second quarter.
The total number of employees in retail and wholesale trade and real estate activities, according to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, stood at 370,285 in the fourth quarter of 2024, representing an employment increase of 0.1 percent compared to the same quarter of 2023. Employees in this sector account for 15.9 percent of total employment in Serbia.
By activity, most employees are in retail trade (211,123) and wholesale trade, excluding motor vehicles and motorcycles (117,528). The lowest number of employees is in real estate activities, amounting to 9,201, where the highest year-on-year percentage increase in employment was recorded (0.5 percent).
Around 74 percent of companies in the trade sector did not change employment levels in the first quarter of 2025, which is the prevailing view in this branch of industry regarding both the first and the second quarters of 2025 (75.1 percent), according to the quarterly report of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce’s Trade Association. The highest average salary was registered in wholesale trade, excluding motor vehicles and motorcycles (3.9 percent higher than the national average), with a real growth of 8.2 percent.
Salaries in real estate activities were 4.5 percent lower than the national average, salaries in wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair were 21.9 percent lower, while retail salaries alone were 29.7 percent below the national average.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, wholesale and retail trade and real estate activities recorded a net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) of 117 million euros from resident investments. The highest level of non-resident investment activity was in wholesale trade (54.3 million euros) and retail trade, excluding motor vehicles and motorcycles (35.9 million euros), while the lowest net FDI inflow was recorded in real estate activities (9.2 million euros).
Purchasing power in May
The latest data from the Ministry of Internal and External Trade show that the new average consumer basket for May this year amounted to 107,396.23 dinars, an increase of 225.41 dinars compared to the previous month. The minimum consumer basket stood at 55,869.45 dinars, an increase of 122.79 dinars.
Purchasing power, measured by the ratio of average net salary (without taxes and contributions) to the new average consumer basket, fell slightly by 0.2 percent in May 2025 compared to the previous month. The average gross salary calculated for May 2025 amounted to 148,930 dinars, while the average net salary without taxes and contributions was 107,705 dinars. Covering the average consumer basket in May required one average salary, while covering the minimum basket required 0.52 of an average salary.
By city, in May 2025, purchasing power above the Serbian average was recorded in Belgrade, Smederevo, Niš, Novi Sad, and Kragujevac. In other cities tracked statistically, the average monthly net salary covered the minimum consumer basket but was insufficient to cover the average consumer basket.
Source Link