01Key Takeaways
- Serbia imported $39.83 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 3.2% from $41.14 billion in 2022, the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Mineral fuels led import categories at 14.0% ($5.56 billion), followed closely by a catch-all "commodities not specified according to kind" category at 12.6%.
- Germany supplied 13.1% of imports ($5.21 billion), by far the largest single partner.
- China ranked second among partners at 12.2% ($4.87 billion), a far larger share than China's position on the export side of trade for this country.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $26.7B | $26.2B | $33.8B | $41.1B | $39.8B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | $5.2B | 13.1% |
| 2 | China | $4.9B | 12.2% |
| 3 | Italy | $2.9B | 7.3% |
| 4 | Turkey | $1.9B | 4.7% |
| 5 | Russia | $1.7B | 4.3% |
| 6 | Hungary | $1.7B | 4.2% |
| 7 | Poland | $1.3B | 3.2% |
| 8 | Romania | $1.2B | 3.0% |
| 9 | France | $1.1B | 2.8% |
| 10 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | $1.1B | 2.8% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $5.6B | 14.0% |
| 2 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $5.0B | 12.6% |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $3.8B | 9.6% |
| 4 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $3.4B | 8.6% |
| 5 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $2.1B | 5.2% |
| 6 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $1.9B | 4.8% |
| 7 | Pharmaceutical Products | $1.5B | 3.9% |
| 8 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $1.0B | 2.6% |
| 9 | Iron and Steel | $944.0M | 2.4% |
| 10 | Aluminium and Articles thereof | $814.1M | 2.0% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Import Value Fell Back After Peaking in 2022
Serbia imported $39.83 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 3.2% from $41.14 billion in 2022. This is the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset. The dataset covers a full five years, from 2019 through 2023.
Import value held roughly steady in the first two years of this window, at $26.73 billion in 2019 and $26.23 billion in 2020. It then climbed for two straight years, reaching $33.79 billion in 2021 and $41.14 billion in 2022, the highest point in this five-year window, before easing back to $39.83 billion in 2023.
On the export side of trade for this country, value continued climbing through 2023 rather than pulling back. This dataset does not include information explaining either pattern, but the two sides of Serbia's trade moved in different directions in this dataset's most recent confirmed year. Import value nonetheless remains far above where it stood at the very start of this five-year window, describing an economy that has grown its import needs substantially even after the most recent one-year pullback.
Fuel and an Unspecified Category Top the Import List
Mineral fuels and related products led every import category in 2023. They were worth $5.56 billion, or 14.0% of the total. A category labeled "commodities not specified according to kind," a recognized catch-all classification within international trade statistics, followed closely at 12.6% ($5.00 billion). Electrical machinery and equipment added 9.6% ($3.84 billion), the same broad category that leads Serbia's export list, covered in the companion export data for this country.
Machinery, boilers and mechanical appliances contributed 8.6% ($3.44 billion), and plastics added 5.2% ($2.06 billion). Vehicles contributed 4.8% ($1.92 billion), and pharmaceutical products added 3.9% ($1.54 billion). Iron or steel articles contributed 2.6% ($1.03 billion), and iron and steel added 2.4% ($0.94 billion). Aluminium closed out the top ten at 2.0% ($0.81 billion).
Electrical machinery appearing prominently on both the import and export sides of trade for this country is consistent with an economy that imports components and materials for assembly, then exports finished electrical and automotive parts. This dataset cannot confirm that specific flow, but the pattern in the category data is consistent with it. Machinery and vehicles also appear on both lists. That further supports the idea of an economy integrated into a two-way manufacturing supply chain, rather than one that simply exports what it produces domestically from start to finish.
Germany and China Supply a Quarter of All Imports
Germany supplied 13.1% of Serbia's imports in 2023, worth $5.21 billion, by far the largest single partner. China ranked second at 12.2% ($4.87 billion), and Italy followed at 7.3% ($2.90 billion). Together, the top three suppliers made up 32.6% of total import value.
Turkey contributed 4.7% ($1.87 billion), and Russia added 4.3% ($1.73 billion). Hungary contributed 4.2% ($1.66 billion), and Poland added 3.2% ($1.27 billion). Romania contributed 3.0% ($1.18 billion), and France added 2.8% ($1.13 billion). Bosnia & Herzegovina closed out the top ten at 2.8% ($1.11 billion).
China's 12.2% share of Serbia's total imports is considerably larger than its 4.0% share of Serbia's exports, covered in the companion export data for this country, where China ranked only seventh among destinations. That asymmetry, a much larger supplier role than customer role, is one of the more notable features of this dataset's 2023 snapshot. Germany shows the opposite pattern, ranking first on both the import and export lists, though its import share here is somewhat smaller than its export share, covered in the companion export data for this country.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes an economy importing fuel, components and manufactured goods from a partner base led by Germany and China, with a wide range of other European countries filling out the rest of the overall list. Germany's position at the top of both the import and export lists for this country underlines just how closely Serbia's economy is tied to German industry specifically, more so than any other single trading partner. China's position, by contrast, differs sharply between the two lists. It appears as a major supplier here but only a minor destination on the export side, a pattern common among countries that buy heavily from Chinese manufacturers while selling relatively little back in return.