Europe · Belgrade
Cost of living in Serbia
Serbia is 58% cheaper than the US, ranking #110 of 203 countries we cover for cost of living.
World Bank data through 2024 · last reviewed 2026-06.
What drives the cost here
Price levels by category, where the world average = 100. Above 100 is pricier than the global norm; below it is cheaper.
In Serbia, transport is the priciest category relative to the world (110), while health is the most affordable (41).
Category price levels: World Bank ICP 2021 (world average = 100) · source
What your money is worth here
A $100,000 US lifestyle would cost roughly $42,500 in Serbia.
Quality of life
86/100 · #73 of 198Beyond cost — health, safety, and connectivity. The score is a transparent, equal-weight composite of the verified metrics below (see methodology).
About Serbia
In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. The monarchy remained in power until 1945, when the communist Partisans headed by Josip Broz (aka TITO) took control of the newly created Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). After TITO died in 1980, communism in Yugoslavia gradually gave way to resurgent nationalism. In 1989, Slobodan MILOSEVIC became president of the Republic of Serbia, and his calls for Serbian domination led to the violent breakup of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines. In 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence, followed by Bosnia in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in 1992, and MILOSEVIC led military campaigns to unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." These actions ultimately failed, and international intervention led to the signing of the Dayton Accords in 1995.
Read the full background
In 1998, an ethnic Albanian insurgency in the formerly autonomous Serbian province of Kosovo resulted in a brutal Serbian counterinsurgency campaign. Serbia rejected a proposed international settlement, and NATO responded with a bombing campaign that forced Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo in June 1999. In 2003, the FRY became the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, a loose federation of the two republics. In 2006, Montenegro seceded and declared itself an independent nation.
In 2008, Kosovo also declared independence -- an action Serbia still refuses to recognize. In 2013, Serbia and Kosovo signed the first agreement of principles governing the normalization of relations between the two countries. Additional agreements were reached in 2015 and 2023, but implementation remains incomplete. Serbia has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2012, and President Aleksandar VUCIC has promoted the ambitious goal of Serbia joining the EU by 2025.
Background from the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived 2026-06-03.
Frequently asked
Is Serbia expensive to live in?
Serbia is 58% cheaper than the US, ranking #110 of the 203 countries we track. Its most expensive category relative to the world is transport; health costs the least.
How much money do you need to live in Serbia?
A lifestyle that costs $100,000 in the United States would cost roughly $42,500 in Serbia, going by overall price levels. The salary translator turns your own figure into a local equivalent.
Is Serbia cheaper than the United States?
Yes. Its overall price level is 42.3, against 100 for the United States.
What is the quality of life in Serbia?
Serbia scores 86 out of 100 on our quality-of-life index (#73 of 198), a composite of life expectancy, safety, health, and connectivity, with life expectancy around 76 years.
Every number, sourced.
We cite the exact source and year for each figure. Derived values are computed at build time, never hand-entered.
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