Over the past five years, Serbia’s banking sector has seen two major trends: a significant reduction in the number of banks and a sharp increase in profitability. The number of banks decreased from 26 in 2019 to 19 in 2025, while profitability more than doubled.
In the first half of 2025, Serbian banks reported a net profit of €774 million, up 1.78% from the same period last year. The full-year 2024 net profit before tax was €1.5 billion. Return on equity (ROE) for the sector reached 20.33% in H1 2025, a substantial increase from 6.24% in the pandemic year 2020.
Small banks led in ROE, with API Bank at 43.8%, Adriatic Bank at 40.7%, and Bank of China at 40%. Some smaller banks, like Jetel and Mirabank, recorded losses, while banks with the lowest ROE included Halkbank (7.96%), Addiko Bank (8.94%), and ProCredit Bank (12.52%).
Raiffeisen Bank was the only institution to consistently achieve above-average ROE every year over the 6.5-year period, averaging 19.2%. Among large banks, NLB Komercijalna Banka had the lowest average ROE at 12.06%.
Return on assets (ROA) for the sector was 2.76% in H1 2025, up from 1.02% in 2020, reflecting the sector’s recovery and profit growth. Among large banks, Poštanska Štedionica had the lowest average ROA (1.07%), while AIK Bank led with 3.86%.
Overall, Serbia’s banking sector demonstrates consolidation, resilience, and strong profitability gains, particularly among smaller and well-managed institutions.
