Serbia remained a net electricity importer in 2025, with the value of imported power increasing by 30.3% from the previous year, substantially faster than the 19.6% growth recorded in exports.
Electricity accounted for 2% of Serbia’s total merchandise imports, compared with 1.7% in 2024. Its share of exports also increased, from 2.2% to 2.5%, showing that cross-border electricity trading expanded in both directions even as the net position deteriorated.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was Serbia’s largest source of imported electricity, with purchases valued at €206.7 million. Croatia followed at €144.9 million, while imports from Romania reached €134 million.
Romania was also Serbia’s largest electricity export destination, buying €315.5 million of Serbian power. North Macedonia imported electricity worth €124.7 million from Serbia.
The simultaneous presence of large imports and exports reflects the increasingly traded nature of Serbia’s electricity balance. Electricity may be imported during outages, low-hydrology periods or high-demand hours and exported when domestic generation exceeds consumption or when regional spreads create profitable trading opportunities.
The figures nevertheless confirm a structural change from Serbia’s historic position as a regular net exporter. Ageing lignite units, variable hydropower production, rising consumption and periods of weak availability across the EPS generation fleet have increased reliance on external supply.
Trade values do not reveal the full physical balance because annual costs are affected by the hours in which electricity is bought and sold. Imports concentrated in high-priced winter or evening periods can produce a financial deficit even when annual import and export volumes are closer together. Exports during lower-priced renewable-rich hours may earn substantially less per megawatt-hour.
This timing risk will become more important as Serbia adds solar and wind capacity. New renewable production can improve the annual energy balance, but without storage and flexible generation it may not eliminate imports during peak hours. Grid reinforcement, pumped storage, batteries and stronger regional interconnections will determine how much renewable output can replace high-cost purchases.
The 30.3% increase in electricity imports is therefore not merely a trade statistic. It is a balance-sheet signal for EPS and a measure of the economic value of improving domestic plant availability, hydropower flexibility and system balancing.
