In first quarter of 2025 the total number of employed amounted to 2 364 894 persons. Of the total number 1 897 466 persons were employed with legal entities, 420 295 were entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business, 47 133 persons are registered individual agricultural producers (farmers).
When related to the first quarter of 2024, the total number of employed increased by 314 persons; namely, the number of employed with legal entities decreased by 1 428 persons, i.e. by 0.1%; the number of entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business increased by 5 518 persons, i.e. by 1.3%; and the number of registered individual agricultural producers (farmers) decreased by 3 776 persons, i.e. by 7.4%.
When related to the previous quarter, the total number of employed decreased by 13 471 persons, i.e. by 0.6%; namely, the number of employed with legal entities decreased by 10 044 persons, i.e. by 0.5%; the number of entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business decreased by 2 645 persons, i.e. by 0.6%; while the number of registered individual agricultural producers (farmers) decreased by 782 persons, i.e. by 1.6%.
1. Registered employment
| Number of employed | Changes relative to the previous quarter | Changes relative to the same quarter of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I quarter 2025 |
differences | indices | differences | indices | |
| Registered employment - total | 2364894 | -13471 | 99.4 | 314 | 100.0 |
| Employees at legal entities (in "long-term employment" and in "temporary and occasional employment") | 1897466 | -10044 | 99.5 | -1428 | 99.9 |
| Entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business (in "long-term employment" and in "temporary and occasional employment") | 420295 | -2645 | 99.4 | 5518 | 101.3 |
| Registered individual agricultural producers (farmers) | 47133 | -782 | 98.4 | -3776 | 92.6 |
2. Employees at legal entities, persons individually running business,
entrepreneurs and their employees
| Number of employed | Changes relative to the previous quarter | Changes relative to the same quarter of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I quarter 2025 |
differences | indices | differences | indices | |
| Employees in "long-term employment" and in "temporary and occasional employment" - total | 2317761 | -12689 | 99.5 | 4089 | 100.2 |
| Employees in "long-term employment" | 2262275 | -10778 | 99.5 | 5474 | 100.2 |
| Employees at legal entities | 1847481 | -8234 | 99.6 | 301 | 100.0 |
| Entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business | 414794 | -2544 | 99.4 | 5174 | 101.3 |
| Employees in "temporary and occasional employment" | 55486 | -1911 | 96.7 | -1385 | 97.6 |
| Employees at legal entities | 49985 | -1810 | 96.5 | -1729 | 96.7 |
| Entrepreneurs and their employees and persons individually running business | 5501 | -101 | 98.2 | 344 | 106.7 |
Methodological explanations
Survey on registered employment is based on combining the data from the Central Register of Compulsory Social Insurance (CRCSI) and Statistical Business Register (SBR). Data on social insurance contribution payers and the insured, on the basis of employment, are obtained from CRCSI. Information on enterprises and their basic characteristics are obtained from the SBR. Distribution of employees by activities and territories, within an enterprise, has been performed according to the structures based on the data on local units.
Definition of registered employment - The term employee comprises persons who have formal legal employment contract, i.e. who entered into employment with an employer for definite or indefinite period of time and persons who work on the basis of contract on performing temporary or occasional jobs, persons performing occupations/activities independently or who are founders of enterprises or unincorporated enterprises, as well as persons performing agricultural activities but are in the records of the Central Register of Compulsory Social Insurance.
Presentation of the data by activities is done in accordance with the Regulation on Classification of Activities („Official Gazette of RS“, No 54/10), while territorial distribution is in compliance with the Regulation on Nomenclature of statistical territorial units („Official Gazette of RS“, No 109/09 and 46/10).
Data on registered employment, presented by regions, are based on the municipality of work of employees.
Quarterly data on the number of employed are calculated as the arithmetic mean of the number of employees for three months of the reference quarter. Monthly data on the number of employed represent the number of employees on the next to last working day in the month.
Starting from 1999 the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has not at disposal and may not provide available certain data relative to AP Kosovo and Metohija and therefore these data are not included in the coverage for the Republic of Serbia (total).