Serbia recorded a substantial deficit in high-technology trade during 2025, with imports exceeding exports by a wide margin, according to MAT data. High-tech exports totaled €1.44 billion, while high-tech imports reached €4.10 billion. Trade with China showed a larger imbalance: Serbia exported €17 million in high-tech products to China and imported €1.34 billion.
China Trade Highlights Technology Import Dependence
Serbia’s high-tech imports from China include electronics, equipment, devices, machinery and other technology-intensive manufactured goods. High-tech exports to China remained limited in comparison with the volume of imported products.
The trade data show that Serbia imports and assembles technology-intensive goods at a larger scale than it exports products with comparable technological content.
Production Capability Requires Broader Industrial Infrastructure
Expansion of high-tech production requires domestic engineering capacity, supplier development, certification systems, testing laboratories, intellectual-property capabilities, skilled labour, university-industry cooperation and access to export markets.
Manufacturing facilities alone do not determine the level of domestic technology production. The depth of local industrial participation depends on supporting research, engineering, quality-control and supplier networks.
High-Tech Imports Support Modernisation
Technology imports can contribute to modernization when used in factories, data centers, power systems and industrial upgrading projects. Equipment and technology purchases can support productivity improvements across manufacturing, energy and digital infrastructure.
At the same time, a sustained deficit in higher-value technology products leaves Serbia dependent on external suppliers and foreign supply chains, while limiting the share of value retained domestically.
Investment Focus Includes Specialized Technology Segments
Potential areas for domestic capacity development include automotive electronics, electric-vehicle components, industrial software, robotics applications, energy-management systems, testing services, specialized metal components and compliance technology.
The high-tech trade figures for 2025 place emphasis on converting investment activity into export-oriented technology production, with the gap between €1.44 billion in exports and €4.10 billion in imports defining the scale of Serbia’s technology trade imbalance.
