Serbia’s total foreign trade in goods for the period January–March 2025 amounted to €17.5 billion, marking a 7.7% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the Republic Statistical Office.
Exports reached €7.3 billion, which is a 1.8% increase year-over-year. Imports, however, surged to €10.2 billion, representing a 12.4% rise compared to the first quarter of 2024.
As a result, Serbia recorded a trade deficit of €2.89 billion, up by 52.8% compared to the same period last year.
The export-to-import coverage ratio was 71.7%, down from 79.2% in the same period of the previous year.
Serbia’s highest volume of foreign trade was conducted with countries it has free trade agreements with. European Union member states accounted for 57.1% of the total trade exchange.
The CEFTA countries remain Serbia’s second most important trading partners. Serbia recorded a trade surplus of €754.2 million with this region, driven mainly by exports of electricity, cereals and cereal-based products, oil and petroleum derivatives, pharmaceutical products, and road vehicles.
In the first quarter of 2025, Serbia exported goods worth €1.1 billion to CEFTA countries and imported goods worth €394.5 million, resulting in an export-to-import coverage ratio of 291.6%.
