Economy—overview: The swift collapse of the Yugoslav federation in 1991 has been followed by highly destructive warfare, the destabilization of republic boundaries, and the breakup of important interrepublic trade flows. Output in Serbia and Montenegro dropped by half in 1992-93. Like the other former Yugoslav republics, it had depended on its sister republics for large amounts of energy and manufactures. Wide differences in climate, mineral resources, and levels of technology among the republics accentuated this interdependence, as did the communist practice of concentrating much industrial output in a small number of giant plants. The breakup of many of the trade links, the sharp drop in output as industrial plants lost suppliers and markets, and the destruction of physical assets in the fighting all have contributed to the economic difficulties of the republics. One singular factor in the economic situation of Serbia is the continuation in office of a government that is primarily interested in political and military mastery, not economic reform. Hyperinflation ended with the establishment of a new currency unit in June 1993; prices were relatively stable from 1995 through 1997, but inflationary pressures resurged in 1998. Reliable statistics continue to be hard to come by, and the GDP estimate is extremely rough. The economic boom anticipated by the government after the suspension of UN sanctions in December 1995 has failed to materialize. Government mismanagement of the economy is largely to blame. Also, the Outer Wall sanctions that exclude Belgrade from international financial institutions and an investment ban and asset freeze imposed in 1998 because of Belgrade's repressive actions in Kosovo have added to economic difficulties.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$25.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$2,300 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 25%
industry: 50%
services: 25% (1994 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 48% (1998 est.)

Labor force: NA

Labor force—by occupation: industry 41%, services 35%, trade and tourism 12%, transportation and communication 7%, agriculture 5% (1994)

Unemployment rate: more than 35% (1995 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: machine building (aircraft, trucks, and automobiles; tanks and weapons; electrical equipment; agricultural machinery); metallurgy (steel, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium); mining (coal, bauxite, nonferrous ore, iron ore, limestone); consumer goods (textiles, footwear, foodstuffs, appliances); electronics, petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (1997 est.)

Electricity—production: 36.155 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 63.44%
hydro: 36.56%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 35.999 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 156 million kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: cereals, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, olives; cattle, sheep, goats

Exports: $2.3 billion (1998 est.)

Exports—commodities: manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials

Exports—partners: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Imports: $3.9 billion (1998 est.)

Imports—commodities: machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals, raw materials

Imports—partners: Germany, Italy, Russia

Debt—external: $11.2 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid—recipient: $NA

Currency: 1 Yugoslav New Dinar (YD) = 100 paras

Exchange rates: Yugoslav New Dinars (YD) per US $1—official rate: 10.0 (December 1998), 5.85 (December 1997), 5.02 (September 1996), 1.5 (early 1995); black market rate: 14.5 (December 1998), 8.9 (December 1997), 2 to 3 (early 1995)

Fiscal year: calendar year