Serbia's Inflation Rises to 2.2% in August, Fuel Up 15.4%
Serbia's statistics office: consumer prices rose 2.2% year on year in August 2026, up from 1.9% in July. Fuel up 15.4%, water supply up 21.8%, clothing the only category cheaper.
Consumer prices in Serbia were 2.2 percent higher in August 2026 than in August 2025, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS) reported. A month earlier, in July, year on year inflation stood at 1.9 percent, meaning the August reading marks an acceleration of 0.3 percentage points.
Compared with July, prices rose 0.5 percent on average. Since the start of the year, measured against December 2025, prices are up 3 percent.
The steepest monthly increase came in transport, up 1.7 percent, followed by recreation, sport and culture, up 1.3 percent. Furniture and household equipment, along with personal care and social protection, each rose 0.9 percent for the month. Food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, as well as restaurants and hotels, each rose 0.4 percent, while housing and utilities, and health and insurance, each rose 0.3 percent. Information and communication, along with education, rose 0.1 percent each. The only category to get cheaper was clothing and footwear, down 0.5 percent from July.
The year on year figures show where the increases are sharpest. Fuel and lubricants for vehicles cost 15.4 percent more than in August last year, and vehicle maintenance and repair services rose 13.4 percent. Water supply was up 21.8 percent, photography services up 25.2 percent, and package travel up 22.2 percent. Rents rose 12.6 percent, and telecommunications packages 12.5 percent. Beer rose 8.9 percent, tobacco 7.1 percent, and alcoholic beverages 6.5 percent.
What the sources say about food, and what they don’t
This is where different outlets’ readings of the same report diverge. N1 states that food in August, compared with the same month last year, was 7.2 percent cheaper. Biznis.rs, covering the same RZS report, does not mention that figure at all, citing only the 0.4 percent monthly increase in the food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco group compared with July. Press reports that restaurant prices rose 5.2 percent year on year, a separate category from food bought in stores. The official RZS report, with a full breakdown by category, is available on the office’s website.
Srpske.rs previously reported on restaurant prices, when food in restaurants was 10.6 percent more expensive year on year while accommodation was cheaper. The August RZS data confirm the same pattern: services are getting more expensive faster than goods on store shelves, while clothing is the only category that was cheaper in August than the month before.
Since January 2026, the statistics office has calculated the consumer price index under the new international classification ECOICOP version 2, with 2025 as the base year instead of the previous 2006. The calculation method is unchanged; only the number and layout of the divisions, groups and subgroups used to track price movements has changed, meaning the August data are the first to be compared with July figures in full on the same, new basis.
