"Cancer" of the economy Kosova is the continued rise in prices, which is taking on alarming proportions, according to WorldAtlas researchers. Moldova is at the top of the 10 list the poorest countries, which is based on the statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bosnia is fourth, North Macedonia fifth, Albania seventh, and Serbia eighth. Montenegro is in ninth place.
The report states that Kosovo has a small economy and is mainly oriented towards the service sector, with construction, trade and remittances accounting for the majority of economic activity. It is added that the economy has recorded an average growth of around four percent in the last five years, but youth unemployment remains high, around 30 percent.
"Europe is home to some of the wealthiest economies on Earth and a number of countries with per capita GDP that would be classified as middle or lower middle income by World Bank standards," the study said.
However, it is added that the list for 2025 shows two major changes compared to earlier editions of this ranking: a big drop in Ukraine, which is in second place in terms of poverty, as well as the poor result of Kosovo, which the IMF monitors separately from Serbia. Bulgaria and Greece are living better since the beginning of the 2020s, the results also showed.
Serbia is below the European average
According to this ranking, Serbia is still significantly behind the European Union average when it comes to GDP per capita and purchasing power of citizens. Despite economic growth in the last decade, structural problems — low productivity, dependence on foreign investment, and regional inequalities — continue to limit faster progress.
This is precisely why Serbia remains in the group of countries that are at the bottom of the European economic scale, but not at the very end of it.
According to the same report, Kosovo is located below Serbia and occupies the last place in the European ranking in terms of economic indicators. This ranks it among the least developed economies in Europe, with the lowest level of GDP per capita and marked structural constraints.
This confirms the difference in economic capacity between Serbia and Kosovo, although both economies share similar problems — high unemployment, emigration and reliance on remittances from abroad.
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