Serbia – Toward a More Effective, Efficient, Equitable and Resilient Health System

The health system in Serbia faces significant challenges arising from a long-term demographic trend and the recent shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Serbia’s population is aging at a rapid pace, and the share of the population aged 65 and above almost doubled —from 9.6 percent to 18.7 percent—between 1990 and 2019. This, coupled with high prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking, heavy drinking, and high consumption of fatty and sugary diet, has contributed to a rapidly rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Addressing NCDs exerts significant financial pressure on the health system that has been further squeezed after more than two years of dealing with COVID-19. This is all happening in a context where the economic contraction that began in 2020 after the advent of COVID-19 pandemic and compounded with the war in Ukraine has adversely affected the country’s capacity to pay for health. The health system also has a challenge to meet population expectations, which have become more demanding after decades of strong economic growth.