Although since the beginning of the year, the annual inflation in Serbia dropped from 7,4 percent in January to 5,6 percent in October, this did not prevent the administration of the City of Belgrade from approving price increase of certain communal services from January 1 of this year.
Pricelist are raging in other parts of Serbia as well, and the movement of inflationary trends is still not sufficiently synchronized with the planned increase in the average salary, which Minister Mali has been announcing for months.
Calming inflation?
Economist Saša Đogović expects that the new year will bring further lowering of inflationary tensions, and therefore slightly more favorable prices.
"The trend of a modest decrease in the inflation rate will also be characteristic for 2025, and there will also be a slight decrease in the reference interest rate of the National Bank of Serbia." This means that dinar loans will be somewhat more favorable in the next year", asserts Đogović.
The National Bank of Serbia, as Đogović explains, also follows the trends of world banks, in which inflationary trends are also calming down. It is difficult to predict how this will affect the prices of concrete products and services, but some drastic price increases are not on the horizon.
"In this year, the price of gas did not increase. This contributed to easing inflation. There was an increase in prices in the field of hospitality, so it is expected that in the coming year there will be an easing and a slight drop in prices in hotels and restaurants", he adds.
The increase in these costs led to the destruction of certain locations and a drop in domestic tourist demand, so Sokobanja, one of the more famous tourist destinations in southeastern Serbia, was very poorly visited.
"Next year I expect that to change." However, it is too early to talk about the price of basic foodstuffs, because the agricultural harvest also plays an important role. If the offer is better than this year, the prices will be lower," says Đogović.
Seasonal increases in the prices of vegetables and fruits are, like every year, inevitable.
"There should also be a slight drop in prices when it comes to the prices of healthcare services, which have risen during this year. There, a certain spade has already been placed.”
If everything remains as it is now, and there are no major global economic conflicts, Đogović says that we should not expect an excessive jump in prices.
Purchasing (in)power of citizens
The average price in Serbia of over 900 euros, as announced by the Minister of Finance Siniša mali, however, cannot keep up with the price jump that hit the Serbian market during the previous year, believes Dejan Gavrilović from the Consumer Association "Efektiva".
"Consumers' purchasing power has declined, because wage growth has not kept up with price growth, so money loses its value based on inflation and the exchange rate." Anyone who saves euros and wants to buy dinars must have noticed that," says Gavrilović.
The basic necessities of life, utility costs and small things that do not require a generous amount of money, can barely be covered by the average salary, supposedly higher than ever.
"With an average salary of around 95.000 dinars, an average family lives just fine." They are not starving, but they don't have money for special needs either. A man who lives alone and has an average salary, provided he does not pay rent, can live normally on that salary."
However, there are very few of them, so this amount is usually split between multi-member families and the various needs of each member.
"I don't think anything will change in the next year." The state has allegedly started to sanction trade chains because of monopolies. This could perhaps be the first step towards improving the standard of living and affecting prices", claims Gavrilović.
The prices of fuel, food and various basic foodstuffs have reached their maximum, and Gavrilović believes that the situation can only be improved by concrete measures to regulate prices on the market.
New price increases
Within Infostan, the price of water is increasing. As PUC "Belgrade Water Supply and Sewerage" announced on its website, as of January 1, the price for the delivery and removal of water will be increased by 17,5 percent.
After the price correction, the average bill for a three-member household will be increased by about 300 dinars on a monthly basis.
As the main reason for the requested price increase, this company cites the price increase of all production inputs that directly affect the production process.
A similar thing was announced by PUK "Parking servis" , from which it was announced that from January 1, 2025, parking prices in garages and parking lots will be corrected.
Also, as they announced, the prices of monthly subscriptions in tenant garages, as well as the value of the temporary parking pass card, will be changed.
They stated that "Parking Service" last changed prices in garages in 2018, so this is the first change after six years.
The Center for Local Self-Government announced recently that higher prices for funeral services are being prepared, which could be increased by as much as 60 percent.
The media recently wrote that PUC "Funeral Services" submitted a request for a price increase to the City Secretariat for Finance.
According to the media, the citizens of Belgrade could pay 1.466 dinars per year for the maintenance of grave sites instead of the current 2.345 dinars.
Some prices will remain the same in the coming year, because at the end of this year they reached their maximum and pepper price increases have already come into effect.
One of such price increases is the increase in the price of taxi transportation.
Since mid-November, taxis in Belgrade are 10 percent more expensive. The starting price is 50 dinars higher, and driving per kilometer is 320 dinars. The start costs 105 dinars, and driving per kilometer 600 dinars, while waiting for an hour has become more expensive by 1.800 dinars, that is, it costs XNUMX dinars.
What will happen to the electricity?
During October, just before the beginning of the heating season, it was announced from several cities in Serbia that the price of heating would increase, and the public speculated about the price of electricity.
Belgrade heating plants increased their bills in October, ie at the beginning of the new heating season, by 8,92 percent: instead of the previous 132,8 dinars per square meter, the new price is 144,6 dinars. It was the third price increase in the last two years.
In the region and in the greater part of Europe, the security of electricity supply is disturbed, and such a situation usually results in higher electricity prices.
The Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, has repeatedly reiterated that electricity for citizens will not increase in price until the end of this year, but she has never said what will happen after those four months. At the same time, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, warned that electricity was consumed more this summer than before and stated that he hopes that Serbia will be able to withstand the upcoming winter with such electricity prices.
Electricity for households went up in price for the last time on May 2022 this year, by eight percent. Before that, in one year, from September 2023 to November XNUMX, the price was raised four times.
The current price of electricity for households in the green zone, which is the consumption of up to 350 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, is 6,86 dinars per kWh at the higher tariff, 1,72 dinars at the lower rate and 6,03 dinars if you have a single-tariff meter. For those who are in the flood zone, that is, they consume from 350 to 1600 kWh per month, the higher tariff is 10,34 dinars, the lower one is 2,58 dinars, and with a single-tariff meter it is 9,05 dinars per kWh.
In the third most expensive red zone, which implies consumption of over 1600 kWh, the higher tariff is 20,68 dinars, the lower one is 5,17 dinars, while the price for a single-tariff meter is 18,10 dinars per kilowatt hour.
