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EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Political and economic situation

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1.Political, social and economic background and trends

1.4Political and economic situation

Last update: 27 November 2023

According to the data from the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, compare to the same quarter of the previous year, amounted 7,5%. According to seasonally adjusted data, GDP increased by 1,7% in the fourth quarter of 2021, as compared to the previous quarter.

Employability

According to the data from the Labor Force Survey for 2019 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in year 2021, the labor force in Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 1,393 million persons, of which 1,151 million (82,6%) are employed and 242 thousand (17,4%) are unemployed. The number of persons outside the labour force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in year 2021, amounted to 1,511 million. In year 2021, the activity rate was 48%, the employment rate 39,6%, the unemployment rate 17,4% and the inactivity rate 52%. Out of the total number of employed persons, 65% persons belong to the age group 25 - 49 years, then 26,4% to the age group 50 - 64 years, 6,9% to the age group 15 - 24 years and 1,7% are persons age 65+

Final consumption

The global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economies of most countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. The data show that the pandemic affected the movement of Gross Domestic Product towards the expenditure approach. GDP in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of the previous year recorded a real growth of 11,6%, which indicates recovery of the economy. According to seasonally adjusted data, GDP increased by 1,2 % in the second quarter of 2021, as compared to the previous quarter.

Observed by categories of GDP according to the expenditure approach in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of the previous year, real growth was recorded in all categories: Household consumption 13,2%, government consumption 1,9%, gross investment of 14,9%, exports of goods and services 51,3% and imports of goods and services 38,8.

Investments

Gross fixed capital formation decreased between 2019 and 2020 by 5.41% in nominal terms and 4.09% in real terms. The breakdown of gross fixed capital formation by type of assets shows decrease in purchases by producers of machinery and equipment by 17.75% while capital formation in construction assets increased by 4.76% nominally. In real terms (excluding price increase) investment in machinery and equipment decreased by 16.90% and in construction assets increased by 6.50%. The gross capital formation share in GDP is 22% and represents an increase from 21% recorded in 2019.  

External sector

Export of goods and services in 2020 registered a decrease by 17.41 % in nominal terms and 16.11% in real terms, which implies a decrease in price of 1.55%. Imports of goods and services in 2020 registered the decrease 14.80% in nominal terms and 13.61% in real terms, which implies a decrease in prices of 1.38%.