{"id":11666,"date":"2025-09-05T10:03:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T09:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=11666"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:59:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:59:30","slug":"no-serbia-is-not-the-least-indebted-country-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/no-serbia-is-not-the-least-indebted-country-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Serbia Is Not the Least Indebted Country in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Original article<\/em><\/a> (in Serbian) was published on 3\/9\/2025; Author: Teodora Koledin<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

During an appearance on Happy TV\u2019s show \u201cAfter Lunch\u201d, businessman Vladimir \u0110ukanov<\/strong> spoke <\/a>about how much Serbian citizens borrow from banks. On that occasion, he stated the following:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSerbia is one of the least indebted countries in Europe. At the end of 2024, citizens owed 13.3 billion euros; when divided, that comes to about 2,000 euros per person. That is a negligible debt. In percentage terms, that\u2019s about 19% of our GDP. The European average is about 46%, which means that, by this criterion, we are significantly below the European average.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here, \u0110ukanov is not referring to public debt, but to household debt in Serbia. Shortly afterward, this excerpt from the show was shared on the Telegram channel Eastern Future<\/a>, accompanied by the claim that \u201cSerbia is the least indebted country in Europe!\u201d While it is true <\/strong>that Serbian households are below the European average by this measure, it is incorrect <\/strong>to say they are the \u201cleast indebted<\/strong>\u201d or that Serbia is \u201cthe least indebted country in Europe.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aleksandar Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/strong>, editor of the Nova ekonomija portal, told Traga\u010d <\/em>that this debt \u201cin no way represents a parameter that shows Serbia\u2019s overall indebtedness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On household debt to banks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First of all, it is important to stress that household debt to banks is not the same<\/strong> as a country\u2019s public debt. Our interlocutor explains that the indebtedness of a country \u201cusually refers to public debt \u2013 that is, the debt of the state and local governments, plus guarantees for public companies. But total indebtedness also includes private debt (corporate borrowing), as well as household debt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, household debt to banks refers \u201cexclusively to debt from loans, credit cards, overdrafts, etc., incurred by citizens themselves.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we look solely at this criterion, according to data from the international database CEIC Data, these European countries<\/a> rank below Serbia, with lower household debt-to-GDP ratios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, the countries<\/a> with the highest levels of household debt in Europe are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although at first glance the fact that Serbians are among the \u201cleast indebted\u201d peoples in Europe may sound positive and praiseworthy, this is not necessarily a good sign for an economy, Milo\u0161evi\u0107 explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA lower share of household debt relative to GDP compared to other countries should not automatically be seen as a positive indicator of our economy and living standards. Quite the opposite \u2013 it often reflects a generally low standard of living and low disposable income, which prevent citizens from taking on larger loans. Put differently, after paying utility bills, rent, food, and other basic needs, Serbian citizens are left with very little money, so they cannot even consider larger loans \u2013 for a new car or an apartment, for example. That\u2019s why our relative indebtedness is lower than in developed countries. In addition, banks in Serbia are quite conservative in approving new loans, charging high interest and fees \u2013 partly due to the risks of doing business here \u2013 all of which limits borrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The fact that countries with higher living standards top the list for household debt is, according to Milo\u0161evi\u0107, \u201cvery logical<\/strong>\u201d since in those countries \u201cpeople are left with more disposable income they can freely spend, without the fear that loan installments will prevent them from covering their regular living expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if we were to consider public debt, Serbia would still not be the least indebted country in Europe. At the end of last year, Serbia\u2019s public debt stood <\/a>at 47.4% of GDP. In the same period, many European countries had lower levels of public debt. Among them are Russia<\/a>, Estonia<\/a>, Bulgaria<\/a>, Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old-new manipulations by the President about public debt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong> has repeatedly emphasized in recent appearances that at the time he became Prime Minister, public debt amounted to 79%<\/strong>. However, this information is false<\/strong>. The fact-checking portal Istinomer <\/a>addressed this issue eight years ago, when Vu\u010di\u0107 claimed that in April 2014, public debt stood at 77%<\/strong>. This time, the figure he cites is even higher (79%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go back about a decade. After the elections in March 2014, when the Serbian Progressive Party won, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 became <\/a>Prime Minister on April 27. On the official website of the Public Debt Administration<\/strong>, all previously published monthly reports are available \u2013 including the one from April 2014<\/a>. That report clearly shows that Serbia\u2019s total public debt at the time was 62.7%<\/strong> of GDP. By the end of the same year (December<\/a>), public debt had risen to 70.9%<\/strong> of GDP. By the end of the following year (2015), it had increased <\/a>further to 75.5%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Vu\u010di\u0107 is not the only one spreading this misinformation; other figures close to the ruling regime do as well. For instance, Aleksa Grube\u0161i\u0107<\/strong> from the Center for Social Stability stated <\/a>in a recent interview on Tanjug TV that public debt was \u201cabout 80 percent, some 70-something percent\u201d of GDP when Vu\u010di\u0107 \u201ctook over the government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article (in Serbian) was published on 3\/9\/2025; Author: Teodora Koledin During an appearance on Happy TV\u2019s show \u201cAfter Lunch\u201d, businessman Vladimir \u0110ukanov spoke about how much Serbian citizens borrow from banks. On that occasion, he stated the following: \u201cSerbia is one of the least indebted countries in Europe. At the end of 2024, citizens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[639,282,28],"class_list":["post-11666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-debt","tag-economy","tag-serbia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11670,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11666\/revisions\/11670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}