Creative industries see notable growth in Serbia

BELGRADE - Serbia's creative industries sector registered a 5.8-6.3 pct share in the national GDP between 2016 and 2023, with jobs in the sector rising by 37 pct and overall exports up by as much as 81 pct, the Office for IT and eGovernment said in a statement.

According to the latest report by the Belgrade Faculty of Economics, titled An Analysis of the Economic Effects of the Creative Industries Sector on Serbia's Economy, the sector's share in Serbia's overall exports in 2021 stood at 2.5 pct and was worth over 648 mln dollars.

At the same time, the number of jobs generated by creative industries in Serbia is on the rise and up by 41,000 compared to the period prior to 2016 and by 19,000 compared to 2019.

The number of jobs in the sector is now 155,138, or 7 pct of the total employed population in Serbia.

As much as 49 pct of Serbia's creative industry professionals are women, 45 pct are highly educated people and 60 pct are people aged 25 to 45.

In terms of its share in the national GDP, the sector of knowledge-based economy is on par with the finance and the construction sectors, the report also said.