Serbian agricultural export grows by 11.9% compared to 2015

Serbia earned USD 3.2 billion from exporting agricultural products in 2016, a growth of 11.9% compared to 2015. The import in the same period amounted to USD 1.4 billion, 10.7% less than two years ago, as shown by the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

Top exported products include grains, fruit and vegetables, whereas coffee, tea, spices, tobacco and frozen pork meat head the list of the most imported products.

According to agricultural analyst Vojislav Stankovic, the surplus if foreign trade of agricultural and food products grew by 39.7% to USD 1.7 billion in 2016.

– The most important agrarian product in export in 2016 was mercantile corn, amounting to USD 346 million and making up 1.5% of total exports – Stankovic says.

– There are also tobacco cigarettes, with USD 277 million, frozen raspberries, with USD 248 million, mercantile wheat, with USD 134 million, apples, sugar and sugar beet. When it comes to import, the so-called non-competitive products traditionally dominate. These are raw coffee, bananas, oranges, tobacco, cigarettes, frozen pork meat...

As Novosti analyst Stankovic points out, the most important agricultural and food industry partners of Serbia are the EU, the Western Balkan countries, the CEFTA countries and Russia. The said markets made up 89% of Serbia’s total foreign trade of food from January till November 2016. Their percentage in total exports is 97%, with 72% in total imports.

Stankovic says that, in 2016, Serbia had exports worth USD 1.2 billion with the CEFTA countries, of which 39% belongs to the agricultural sector. At the same time, the imports amounted to USD 126 million, with the agrarian sector contributing 9%.

The current free trade agreement with Russia is not being sufficiently and adequately utilized by Serbia, considering the big oscillations in its agricultural production, and the manufacturing industry capacities are underused as well, Stankovic explains.

Republički zavod za statistiku

Cefta Secretariat Brussels

agricultural production of Serbia

export of agricultural products

import of agricultural products

export of grains

export of fruit

export of vegetables

import of coffee

import of tea

import of spices

import of tobacco

import of frozen pork meat

Vojislav Stankovic

mercantile corn

export of corn

frozen raspberries

export of raspberries

mercantile wheat

apples

export of apples

sugar

export of sugar

sugar beet

CEFTA

export to Russia