Statistical Release

According to the Labor Force Survey, in the second quarter of 2025, the number of employed persons was 2.885.900, the number of unemployed persons was 267.000, while the number of people outside the labor force was 2.454.900.

Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the number of employed persons decreased by 13.800, and the number of people outside the labor force by 29.500, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 9.200. The employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points (p.p.) as well as the unemployment rate, by 0.3 p.p., while the outside the labor force rate decreased by 0.2 p.p.

Compared to the previous quarter, the number of employed persons decreased slightly by 1.200, and the number of unemployed persons by 22.400, while the number of the population outside the labor force increased by 16.800. The employment rate increased by 0.1 p.p., amounting to 51.5%, while the unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 p.p., amounting to 8.5%. The outside the labor force rate was 43.8%, representing an increase of 0.4 p.p.

Total rate of informal employment was 11.4%, where the rate of informal employment in the agricultural sector was 50.4% and in non-agricultural sectors 6.1%.

(r) revised data

Table 1 Basic indicators of labour market trends of persons aged 15 and over, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
	%	p. p.	p. p.
Activity rate	56.2	-0.4	0.2
Employment rate	51.5	0.1	0.1
Rate of informal employment (total)	11.4	-0.1	-0.4
Rate of informal employment, excl. agriculture	6.1	0.1	0.2
Rate of informal employment in agriculture	50.4	2.3	-1.3
Unemployment rate	8.5	-0.6	0.3
Longterm unemployment rate	3.7	-0.5	-0.1
Out of labour force rate	43.8	0.4	-0.2
NEET rate (15-24)	11.8	-1.6	0.3
NEET rate (15-29)	13.9	-1.8	0.3

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Table 2. Population aged 15 and over, by working status, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter		Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
	(in thousand)	(in thousand)	%	(in thousand)	%
Total population	5607.7	-6.9	-0.1	-34.3	-0.6
Active population	3152.9	-23.6	-0.7	-4.6	-0.1
Employed	2885.9	-1.2	0.0	-13.8	-0.5
Formally employed	2556.5	2.0	0.1	0.0	0.0
Formally employed, excl. agriculture	2386.3	28.7	1.2	12.4	0.5
Formally employed in agriculture	170.3	-26.7	-13.6	-12.3	-6.7
Informally employed	329.3	-3.3	-1.0	-14.0	-4.1
Informally employed, excl. agriculture	156.2	6.3	4.2	8.5	5.8
Informally employed in agriculture	173.2	-9.5	-5.2	-22.3	-11.4
Unemployed	267.0	-22.4	-7.7	9.2	3.6
Out of labour force	2454.9	16.8	0.7	-29.5	-1.2

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	15 and more	15–24	15–64	15–74	15–89	20–64	25–64
Activity rates	56.2	32.6	73.2	62.4	56.5	78.5	81.1
Employment rates	51.5	25.2	66.8	57.1	51.7	71.8	74.9
Unemployment rates	8.5	22.8	8.7	8.5	8.5	8.5	7.6
Out of labour forse rates	43.8	67.4	26.8	37.6	43.5	21.5	18.9

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Table 4. Population aged 15 and over, by working status and sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Total population	5607.7	-6.9	-0.1	-34.3	-0.6
Active population	3152.9	-23.6	-0.7	-4.6	-0.1
Employed	2885.9	-1.2	0.0	-13.8	-0.5
Unemployed	267.0	-22.4	-7.7	9.2	3.6
Out of labour force	2454.9	16.8	0.7	-29.5	-1.2
Male
Total population	2701.5	-3.2	-0.1	-15.8	-0.6
Active population	1721.5	-6.9	-0.4	2.6	0.2
Employed	1576.9	2.6	0.2	-3.7	-0.2
Unemployed	144.7	-9.4	-6.1	6.4	4.6
Out of labour force	980.0	3.7	0.4	-18.4	-1.8
Female
Total population	2906.2	-3.8	-0.1	-18.4	-0.6
Active population	1431.3	-16.8	-1.2	-7.3	-0.5
Employed	1309.0	-3.8	-0.3	-10.1	-0.8
Unemployed	122.3	-13.0	-9.6	2.8	2.3
Out of labour force	1474.9	13.1	0.9	-11.1	-0.7

Table 4a. Activity, employment, unemployment and population out of the labour force rates of persons aged 15 and over by sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Activity rates	56.2	-0.4	0.2
Employment rates	51.5	0.1	0.1
Unemployment rates	8.5	-0.6	0.3
Out of labour forse rates	43.8	0.4	-0.2
Male
Activity rates	63.7	-0.2	0.4
Employment rates	58.4	0.2	0.2
Unemployment rates	8.4	-0.5	0.4
Out of labour forse rates	36.3	0.2	-0.4
Female
Activity rates	49.3	-0.5	0.1
Employment rates	45.0	-0.1	-0.1
Unemployment rates	8.5	-0.8	0.2
Out of labour forse rates	50.7	0.5	-0.1

Table 5. Population aged 15-24 by working status and sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Total population	670.8	-0.3	0.0	-0.5	-0.1
Active population	218.9	-0.6	-0.3	7.5	3.5
Employed	169.1	2.6	1.6	0.4	0.2
Unemployed	49.8	-3.1	-5.9	7.1	16.6
Out of labour force	451.9	0.3	0.1	-8.0	-1.7
Male
Total population	344.1	-0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Active population	136.8	0.0	0.0	5.8	4.4
Employed	107.3	2.1	2.0	5.2	5.1
Unemployed	29.5	-2.1	-6.6	0.6	2.1
Out of labour force	207.3	-0.1	0.0	-5.8	-2.7
Female
Total population	326.7	-0.1	0.0	-0.6	-0.2
Active population	82.1	-0.6	-0.7	1.7	2.1
Employed	61.8	0.5	0.8	-4.8	-7.2
Unemployed	20.3	-1.1	-5.1	6.5	47.1
Out of labour force	244.6	0.4	0.2	-2.2	-0.9

Table 5a. Rates of activity, employment, unemployment and population out of the labour force of persons aged 15-24 by sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Activity rates	32.6	-0.1	1.1
Employment rates	25.2	0.4	0.1
Unemployment rates	22.8	-1.3	2.6
Out of labour forse rates	67.4	0.1	-1.1
Male
Activity rates	39.8	0.1	1.7
Employment rates	31.2	0.6	1.5
Unemployment rates	21.6	-1.5	-0.5
Out of labour forse rates	60.2	-0.1	-1.7
Female
Activity rates	25.1	-0.2	0.5
Employment rates	18.9	0.1	-1.5
Unemployment rates	24.8	-1.0	7.6
Out of labour forse rates	74.9	0.2	-0.5

Table 6. Population aged 15-64 by working status and sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Total population	4110.7	-10.6	-0.3	-41.3	-1.0
Active population	3009.4	-5.6	-0.2	1.1	0.0
Employed	2747.3	17.1	0.6	-4.7	-0.2
Unemployed	262.1	-22.7	-8.0	5.8	2.3
Out of labour force	1101.4	-5.0	-0.5	-42.3	-3.7
Male
Total population	2055.2	-4.8	-0.2	-19.0	-0.9
Active population	1627.9	2.3	0.1	3.5	0.2
Employed	1485.2	11.5	0.8	-1.6	-0.1
Unemployed	142.7	-9.3	-6.1	5.1	3.7
Out of labour force	427.3	-7.0	-1.6	-22.5	-5.0
Female
Total population	2055.5	-5.9	-0.3	-22.3	-1.1
Active population	1381.5	-7.8	-0.6	-2.4	-0.2
Employed	1262.1	5.6	0.4	-3.1	-0.2
Unemployed	119.3	-13.6	-10.2	0.7	0.6
Out of labour force	674.0	2.0	0.3	-19.9	-2.9

Table 6a. Rates of activity, employment, unemployment and population out of the labour force of persons aged 15-64 by sex, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
Activity rates	73.2	0.0	0.7
Employment rates	66.8	0.6	0.5
Unemployment rates	8.7	-0.7	0.2
Out of labour forse rates	26.8	0.0	-0.7
Male
Activity rates	79.2	0.3	0.9
Employment rates	72.3	0.8	0.6
Unemployment rates	8.8	-0.5	0.3
Out of labour forse rates	20.8	-0.3	-0.9
Female
Activity rates	67.2	-0.2	0.6
Employment rates	61.4	0.4	0.5
Unemployment rates	8.6	-1.0	0.0
Out of labour forse rates	32.8	0.2	-0.6

Table 7. Population aged 15 and over by working status and region, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Total
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	5607.7	-6.9	-0.1	-34.3	-0.6
Beogradski region	1424.3	-0.2	0.0	-2.1	-0.1
Region Vojvodine	1464.5	-1.7	-0.1	-8.7	-0.6
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	1532.0	-2.4	-0.2	-11.0	-0.7
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	1186.8	-2.7	-0.2	-12.5	-1.0
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...	...	...
Active population
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	3152.9	-23.6	-0.7	-4.6	-0.1
Beogradski region	847.7	-4.6	-0.5	-6.0	-0.7
Region Vojvodine	803.2	-6.0	-0.7	-15.6	-1.9
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	867.9	-9.8	-1.1	17.5	2.1
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	634.0	-3.3	-0.5	-0.6	-0.1
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...	...	...
Employed
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	2885.9	-1.2	0.0	-13.8	-0.5
Beogradski region	790.8	-1.9	-0.2	-9.2	-1.1
Region Vojvodine	751.5	12.1	1.6	-5.3	-0.7
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	786.9	-15.6	-1.9	2.6	0.3
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	556.6	4.1	0.7	-1.9	-0.3
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...	...	...
Unemployed
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	267.0	-22.4	-7.7	9.2	3.6
Beogradski region	56.9	-2.7	-4.5	3.3	6.2
Region Vojvodine	51.6	-18.1	-26.0	-10.4	-16.8
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	81.1	5.9	7.8	15.0	22.7
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	77.4	-7.4	-8.7	1.3	1.7
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...	...	...
Out of labour force
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	2454.9	16.8	0.7	-29.5	-1.2
Beogradski region	576.6	4.4	0.8	3.9	0.7
Region Vojvodine	661.3	4.3	0.7	6.9	1.1
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	664.1	7.4	1.1	-28.5	-4.1
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	552.8	0.6	0.1	-11.9	-2.1
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...	...	...

Table 7a. Rates of activity, employment, unemployment and population out of the labour force aged 15 and over by region, II quarter 2025

	Q2 2025	Changes relative to previous quarter	Changes relative to same quarter of the previous year
Activity rate
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	56.2	-0.4	0.2
Beogradski region	59.5	-0.3	-0.3
Region Vojvodine	54.8	-0.4	-0.8
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	56.7	-0.5	1.6
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	53.4	-0.2	0.5
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...
Employment rate
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	51.5	0.1	0.1
Beogradski region	55.5	-0.1	-0.6
Region Vojvodine	51.3	0.9	-0.1
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	51.4	-0.9	0.6
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	46.9	0.5	0.3
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...
Unemployment rate
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	8.5	-0.6	0.3
Beogradski region	6.7	-0.3	0.4
Region Vojvodine	6.4	-2.2	-1.2
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	9.3	0.7	1.5
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	12.2	-1.1	0.2
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...
Outside the labour force rate
REPUBLIC OF SERBIA	43.8	0.4	-0.2
Beogradski region	40.5	0.3	0.3
Region Vojvodine	45.2	0.4	0.8
Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije	43.3	0.5	-1.6
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije	46.6	0.2	-0.5
Region Kosovo i Metohija	...	...	...

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In the second quarter of 2025, 12.576 households, i.e. 28.094 persons aged 15 and over, were interviewed.

Rounding rules

The results of the Labor Force Survey are published rounded to thousands, with one decimal place. Total values (summaries) do not always agree with the sum of the individual data, given that the ratings given in statistical publications are calculated using unrounded numbers (which gives more accurate data).

Methodological notes

Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the most complex and internationally comparable instrument for labour trends monitoring, registering demographic and socio–economic characteristics of population aged 15 and over.

The main aim of the survey is to obtaining data on three main, mutually exclusive, contingents of population: employed persons, unemployed persons and outside labour force population.

Active population (labour force) is an additional aggregated category and it includes all employed and unemployed persons.

Activity rate presents the percentage share of active population (employed and unemployed) in the total referent population (aged 15 and over, i.e. in the indicated age group).

Employed persons are the persons (aged 15-89) who, in the reference week, performed a paid job for at least one hour (in cash or in kind), including unpaid family workers, as well as persons who had a job, but were temporarily absent from work in that week.

Employment rate is the percentage share of employed persons in the total population (aged 15 and over, i.e. in the indicated age group).

Formal employment includes persons who have a formal and legal employment contract, persons who are founders of registered companies or entrepreneur shops or perform independently an activity based on registration in relevant government institutions.

Informal employment is considered to be work in unregistered companies, work in registered companies without an employment contract, as well as the work of unpaid family workers.

Informal employment rate is the share of informally employed persons in total employment.

Unemployed persons are the persons (aged 15-74) who, in the reference week, did no work for remuneration, who undertook active steps to find a job during four-week period ending with the reference week and who were able to start working in two-week time after the referent week.

Unemployment rate presents the percentage share of unemployed population in the labour force / active population (employed and unemployed).

Long-term unemployment rate is the share of individuals in the labour force (employed and unemployed) who have been unemployed for more than one year.

Outside the labour force population includes all persons aged 89 and persons between 15 and 89 years who were not employed or unemployed in the referent week according to the definitions of employment and unemployment.

Outside the labour force rate presents the percentage share of outside the labour force population in the total referent population (aged 15 and over, i.e. in the indicated age group).

NEET rate – refers to the share of persons aged 15 to 24 (or 15 - 29) neither employed, nor in education, training, in the total population of that age.

More detailed description of the Survey methodology can be found at the link Methodology

The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has not had data for the AP Kosovo and Metohija since 1999, so they are not included in the total data for the Republic of Serbia.

DATABASE

Reference metadata

Labour Force Survey, II Quarter 2025

In the second quarter of 2025, the number of employed persons was 2 885 900, the number of unemployed persons was 267 000. The employment rate was 51.5%, while the unemployment rate was 8.5%.

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