
The Regional Cooperation Council has published the Balkan Barometer for 2024, which is divided into the Public Opinion survey and the Business Opinion survey. The responses from the respondents have been systematized, analyzed and presented in two reports that are made public by the institution. "Scan Intel" has stopped at the Business Opinion Survey analyzing the expectations for the general economic situation of businesses in the countries of the region during the next 12 months.
Expectations regarding the overall economic situation in the Western Balkans appear gloomy. About 21% of respondents in Western Balkan economies expect the situation to worsen, while another 31% expect it to recover. From the data, the percentage of respondents who expect deterioration is the lowest in Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while this percentage is the highest in Montenegro with 37%, the report says. Kosovars remain more optimistic about the future, as 41% of them answered that the general economic situation would improve in the coming year.
As for our country, about 39% of the business owners surveyed answered that they expect the general economic situation in the country to improve in the next 12 months. Compared to the barometer results of a year ago, we see an improvement of optimistic responses by 3 percentage points. But, on the other hand, the percentage of them who think that the situation will get worse has increased, from 14% to 19% this year.