Serbia’s digital industry is increasingly linked to trade and domestic infrastructure, with official data pointing to a stronger export performance in ICT services. In 2025, Serbia’s ICT services exports reached €4.552bn, up 10% year on year, while the ICT services surplus was €3.529bn. December 2025 alone accounted for €471mn of ICT exports, the highest monthly figure in the official release.
- Connectivity and enterprise adoption metrics
- E-commerce volumes, store counts and payment mix
- Instant payments and cross-border checkout changes
- E-commerce categories through 2028 and AI infrastructure capacity
- Ict R&D presence and SME digital uptake constraints
- E-invoicing requirements expand demand for ERP integration
- B2B commerce models combine payments with compliance data flows
The market is described as moving beyond IT outsourcing into two connected layers. The export-oriented layer includes software, cloud services, gaming, testing, customer platforms, AI, data engineering and R&D services. The domestic digitalisation layer covers e-commerce, online payments, e-invoicing, ERP integration, fiscal systems, digital marketing, fulfilment, cyber security and SME automation.
Connectivity and enterprise adoption metrics
Demand indicators show broad consumer and business internet use in Serbia. The Statistical Office reports that 90% of individuals used the internet in 2025, with 84.7% of internet users holding a social-network account. Households with broadband internet reached 90.1%.
Business connectivity is also reported at high levels among larger firms. Enterprises with 10 or more employees recorded 100% broadband internet usage. Among small enterprises, 81.5% had a website and 10.1% of companies used artificial-intelligence technology in 2025.
The focus for market activity shifts from online presence to transaction conversion. The source data highlights that many firms still use websites as information pages rather than sales infrastructure. This creates demand for agencies and service providers covering ERP integration, payments, fulfilment operations and performance marketing.
E-commerce volumes, store counts and payment mix
E-commerce is identified as the most visible growth channel in Serbia. The National Bank of Serbia reported 110.6mn online purchases using payment cards and e-money in 2025, up from 82.4mn in 2024 and compared with 21.2mn purchases in 2020. Average daily volume exceeded 303,000 online purchases.
The number of online stores also expanded during the same period. By the end of 2025, Serbia had 5,632 domestic online stores, up by 906 versus a year earlier and at 2.8x the level recorded at the end of 2020.
The value of transactions shows a split across currencies in card-and-e-money reporting. Online dinar purchases reached 78.6mn transactions worth RSD 237.4bn, while euro-denominated online purchases were 23.8mn transactions worth €1.024bn. Dollar-denominated purchases declined to 6.1mn, but their value rose to $244.5mn, with NBS figures excluding cash-on-delivery transactions.
A private-market estimate places Serbian e-commerce revenue at around $916mn in 2025, with expected growth of 5–10% in 2026. The online retail share is still estimated at roughly 5–10%. ECDB identifies Hobby & Leisure as the largest category at 28% of market revenue; cash on delivery remains the leading payment method and WooCommerce is cited as the most common shop software among Serbian online retailers.
Instant payments and cross-border checkout changes
The payments trend line is supported by instant-payment processing figures from Serbia’s IPS system. In the first half of 2025, IPS processed 50.7mn instant payments, up by 24.8% year on year. Total value increased by 37.1% to RSD 628.7bn.
The IPS system supports QR payments alongside mobile transfers, in-store payments and online payments. The NBS lists Ananas.rs among platforms supporting instant payments . This indicates that instant-payment functionality is being used across multiple purchase channels.
A separate development concerns cross-border checkout rules for domestic merchants selling abroad online. In April 2026, NALED reported that the National Bank of Serbia confirmed domestic e-commerce merchants can charge non-resident customers in foreign currency for online sales . The change removes a barrier tied to forcing foreign buyers into dinar checkout at the final stage.
E-commerce categories through 2028 and AI infrastructure capacity
The strongest e-commerce niches through 2026–2028 are listed as consumer electronics, fashion, hobby and leisure, pharmacy and care products, grocery and quick commerce, homeware and DIY products, plus online education, ticketing and tourism services. B2B procurement platforms and export-oriented D2C brands are also included among likely areas of growth.
The source links category performance to operational conditions such as delivery density for food and grocery and price comparison behaviour for electronics and home equipment online markets . It also notes that fashion growth depends on return management and sizing logistics being margin-sensitive.
The government’s investment programme is presented as an infrastructure advantage for Serbia’s digital providers. The Office for IT and eGovernment says the National AI Platform currently includes four Nvidia DGX A100 systems with 32 GPUs, 150TB of storage and five PetaFlops of AI performance . An upgrade to six Nvidia DGX H200 systems with 48 GPUs, an additional 120TB storage increase and 32 PetaFlops planned availability during 2025 is also cited.
A third supercomputer is planned for 2026 according to the same source . The AI infrastructure is described as enabling a second wave for domestic providers covering AI-enabled customer service, demand forecasting, warehouse optimisation and fraud detection alongside personalised offers. It also lists automated accounting, document processing, pricing tools and marketing automation as use cases tied to adoption by SMEs.
Ict R&D presence and SME digital uptake constraints
The ecosystem includes foreign R&D presence alongside domestic technology employment figures cited by external reporting sources. The U.S. Commercial Service lists Oracle, Rivian, Microsoft, NCR Atleos, NCR Voyix, Cisco and IBM among major companies with R&D centres or campuses in Serbia . It also states that Serbian technology companies produce software for agriculture, medicine, tracking, cloud applications, online games and testing.
The same reporting notes about 115,000 people employed in the ICT sector . Alongside these inputs from foreign firms and local production activity, the European Commission’s 2025 Serbia report describes uneven rural connectivity as a constraint on digital transformation progress.
The European Commission report also says SME digital uptake remains constrained by weak support mechanisms that do not translate regulatory improvements into business practice . This positions conversion capacity—moving from regulatory change to operational adoption—as a key issue for companies seeking to implement digital processes.
E-invoicing requirements expand demand for ERP integration
E-invoicing is described as part of a broader compliance-driven market expansion for B2B operations in Serbia. Serbia’s Electronic Invoice System became mandatory for private-sector B2B electronic invoice issuance and storage from 1 January 2023 . The official e-invoice portal provides API instructions along with XML standards.
The portal materials are also said to include VAT recording tools and technical manuals . This has created demand for software providers serving invoicing workflows together with ERP consultants, accounting-tech platforms and API integrators.
B2B commerce models combine payments with compliance data flows
The source describes a hybrid winning position combining digital commerce with payments plus compliance plus data handling requirements . For retailers this includes webshops and marketplaces together with SEF-compatible invoicing support such as VAT evidence and return documentation alongside card/e-money reconciliation.
The same model includes customer analytics plus warehouse control plus performance marketing capabilities . For exporting digital companies it highlights foreign-currency collection mechanisms such as subscription billing alongside contracts plus data protection and cross-border tax documentation requirements.
The risk profile includes cash-on-delivery dependency alongside fragmented logistics operations affecting returns management . It also cites high cart abandonment levels together with weak customer-service standards across parts of the market; uneven SME digital skills; imported platform dependency; pressure from international sellers; and competition not only from Serbian rivals but also cross-border platforms backed by global brands able to sustain lower margins.
