Restaurant Food in Serbia Up 10.6 Percent, Lodging Cheaper
Serbia's statistics office: hospitality prices rose 5.2 percent year over year in August, food twice as fast at 10.6 percent. Lodging was the only category to get cheaper, down 0.1 percent.
Hospitality prices in Serbia were up 5.2 percent in August compared with a year earlier, according to fresh data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS). Behind that average sits a much sharper move in one line item: food in taverns and restaurants rose 10.6 percent, twice the pace of the sector’s overall growth.
A diner sitting down at a table today pays considerably more specifically for the food on the plate, while drinks and overnight stays climbed more slowly or did not get more expensive at all.
What exactly got more expensive
RZS broke food down into three categories. Ready made meals rose 8.9 percent, stews 8.7 percent, and hot and cold starters 6.5 percent. Price growth for drinks was milder: alcoholic beverages rose 5.5 percent and non-alcoholic beverages 6.1 percent.
The only category to post a decline is accommodation. Lodging, according to the statistics office, was 0.1 percent cheaper than in August 2025, a marginal move but in the opposite direction from everything else on the bill.
Vojvodina above the average
Price growth is not even across the country. In Vojvodina, overall hospitality prices rose 9.4 percent, nearly double the national average of 5.2 percent. Food there got 11.7 percent more expensive, alcoholic beverages 7.0 percent, and non-alcoholic beverages 8.7 percent.
The gap is sharpest in accommodation. While lodging nationwide edged 0.1 percent cheaper, in Vojvodina it rose 2.3 percent. The province is not just outpacing the rest of the country on nearly every line item, it is moving in the opposite direction from the national trend when it comes to lodging.
What the data covers
The RZS figure measures hospitality as a whole, taverns, restaurants and accommodation facilities together, comparing August 2026 with August 2025. It is not broken down by city or by type of establishment beyond the categories RZS published, so the data cannot show exactly how much a specific meal in Belgrade, for instance, got more expensive.
The gap between food, rising twice as fast as the sector average, and lodging, the only category to get cheaper, remains the clearest signal in the August reading.
