Serbia inflation hits 4.1% in September, water up 21.8%
Water is 21.8 percent dearer and rents 10.6, while food is still cheaper than a year ago, though by less than in August, the statistics office data show.
Annual inflation in Serbia was 4.1 percent in September, almost double the 2.2 percent recorded a month earlier, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS) said. In July the rate was 1.9 percent, so it has risen by 2.2 percentage points in two months.
Compared with August, prices of goods and services for personal consumption are 0.2 percent higher on average, and 3.3 percent higher than in December 2025.
What got more expensive in September compared with a year ago?
The biggest jumps are in housing and services, not in food. According to RZS data, year on year the following are dearer:
- water supply: 21.8 percent
- routine home maintenance: 21.5 percent
- home maintenance, repair and security: 15.3 percent
- wastewater removal: 12.9 percent
- rents: 10.6 percent
Among services, RZS records a rise of 22.8 percent in photography services, 12.3 percent for hairdressers and beauticians, 12.2 percent for dentistry outside hospitals and 11.1 percent for non-hospital health services. Cinema, theater and concert tickets are 10.3 percent dearer, and repair, installation and rental of household appliances 9.8 percent. Computer equipment is up 12.3 percent.
In transport, rail is 10.8 percent dearer, road passenger transport 4.7 percent, and postal and courier services 7.8 percent.
Did food get more expensive?
No, but the gap with last year has narrowed. Food was 1.8 percent cheaper in September than in September 2025, while in August it was 7.2 percent cheaper. In one month, the fall in food prices thus shrank from 7.2 to 1.8 percent.
Within food and drink, year-on-year increases are recorded for tea and herbal drinks (7.2 percent), juices (7.1 percent), fish and seafood (2.9 percent), cereals and cereal products (2.5 percent) and soft drinks (2.5 percent). Oils and fats, as well as coffee, are each 0.5 percent dearer, and tobacco 7.1 percent.
How did prices move compared with August?
In its release, RZS breaks down monthly changes by main groups:
“Looking at the main groups of goods and services classified by purpose of consumption, in September 2026, compared with the previous month, price increases were recorded in the groups Transport (1.2%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.6%), Restaurants and hotels (0.5%), in the groups Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and Furnishings, household equipment and routine home maintenance (0.4% each). Price increases were also recorded in the groups Health (0.2%) and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco and Information and communication (0.1% each). Price decreases were recorded in the groups Recreation, sport and culture (-5.6%) and Clothing and footwear (-0.1%),” RZS said.
Transport thus had the biggest monthly rise, and recreation, sport and culture the only larger fall. Prices of other goods and services, the office said, did not change much.
What do producer prices show?
Prices of agricultural and fishery products in August were 8.7 percent lower than in August 2025, according to RZS data. Fruit became cheaper by 23.3 percent, livestock products by 10.6 percent, livestock and poultry by 9.8 percent, and grain by 8.5 percent. Compared with July, prices fell by 0.2 percent: industrial crops became 7.3 percent cheaper and grain 0.6 percent. In the first eight months of 2026, these products were on average 5.8 percent cheaper than in the same period of 2025.
These figures refer to August and the retail figures to September, so they cannot be compared directly.
