At the end of 2025, a total of 64,672 foreign nationals were residing in Serbia on the basis of some form of employment. According to the 2025 Migration Profile of the Republic of Serbia, the majority of them were citizens of Russia (35.5%), followed by China (19.1%), India (10.7%), Turkey (9.1%), and Nepal (4.2%).
At the end of July this year, the Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivica Dačić, stated during a parliamentary debate that “there are currently 68,720 foreigners with work papers in our country.”
According to data published by the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, citing Ministry of Internal Affairs data, a total of 64,672 foreigners resided in the country at the end of 2025 on the basis of some form of employment.
Labour migration represents the most prevalent form of migration in the Republic of Serbia, according to the 2025 Migration Profile.
“Over the past few years, a continuous rise in the number of foreign workers has been observed, driven by labour market demands and a shortage of domestic labour. The largest number of gainfully employed foreigners reside in the Republic of Serbia on the basis of issued single temporary residence and work permits,” the document from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration points out.
As explained, an application for temporary residence approval – on the basis of which a single temporary residence and work permit is issued – can be submitted for the following reasons:
- Employment in the narrower sense / employment contract or other contract;
- Self-employment;
- Posted workers;
- Intra-company transfer;
- Independent professional;
- Training and professional development.
Such applications are submitted exclusively electronically via the single portal for foreigners, welcometoserbia@gov.rs, to the competent authority for foreign nationals within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which makes a decision on the submitted application. In this single procedure, an assessment from the competent employment authority is also obtained.
In addition to the above, foreigners also reside and work in Serbia who, in accordance with regulations governing the employment of foreigners, have the right to work without a single permit, and who are not included in the presented statistics for approved temporary residences on the grounds of employment.
“At the end of 2025, 64,672 foreigners resided in the Republic of Serbia on the basis of some form of employment, which is a 24% increase compared to 2024, when 49,147 foreign workers resided on this basis,” the Migration Profile states.
At the end of 2025, the most numerous foreign workers residing and working on the grounds of employment via an employment contract or other contract accounted for approximately 69%, followed by self-employment at around 18% (registered company members; sole traders), and subsequently foreign workers on the basis of posting or intra-company transfer.
“At the same time, a greater diversity in the countries of origin of foreign workers can be observed compared to previous years, indicating an expansion of migration trends and the increasing mobility of the foreign labour force,” the document points out.
In accordance with the Law on Ratification of the Agreement on Conditions for Free Access to the Labour Market in the Western Balkans and the signed Protocol on the Implementation of the Agreement on Conditions for Free Access to the Labour Market in the Western Balkans, from 1 March 2024, citizens of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia can submit applications for the issuance of approval for free access to the labour market.
“From the entry into force of the Agreement until the date this report was created, citizens of the Republic of Albania and North Macedonia submitted a total of 519 applications for free access to the labour market, specifically 381 applications submitted by citizens of the Republic of Albania and 516 applications submitted by citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia”.
A total of 387 applications for free access to the labour market were approved—specifically, 386 applications were approved for citizens of North Macedonia and one application was approved for a citizen of the Republic of Albania.
Mostly uneducated
Viewed by the educational structure of foreigners registered with the National Employment Service (NES) as of 31 December 2025, who have been registered for up to 12 months, the largest share consists of citizens with no formal education and those who have completed primary school, totalling 69.39%.
The same applies to individuals registered for longer than 12 months, where the share of citizens in these two categories stands at 81.66% of the total number.
This trend, it is noted, has continued compared to previous years.
Victims of human trafficking
At the end of 2025, the register of unemployed persons kept by the National Employment Service included one woman with the recorded status of a human trafficking victim, the document specifies.
“During the reporting period from 1 January to 31 December 2025, one person with the recorded status of a human trafficking victim was registered with the unemployed persons database. During 2025, employment counsellors held two individual interviews with persons recorded as having the status of a human trafficking victim. These individual interviews were conducted in order to provide information on the rights and obligations of jobseekers, as well as the services such persons can receive from the NES, in accordance with their qualifications and labour market needs,” the document states.
During the reporting period from 1 January to 31 December 2025, it is added that there were seven cases of employment of unemployed persons with the recorded status of human trafficking victims, all of whom were women.
(N1, 21.09.2026)
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