At the proposal of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Council of Ministers of BiH, at its session on Tuesday, adopted a Decision determining the annual quota of work permits for the employment of foreigners in BiH for 2026.
The total annual quota of work permits for extensions and new employment amounts to 7.427 work permits, of which 4.500 relate to the Federation of BiH (FBiH), 2.000 to Republika Srpska (RS), and 927 work permits to the Brcko District of BiH.
The number of work permits that may be issued for the extension of already issued work permits amounts to 2.350 (FBiH 1.500, RS500, and Brcko District of BiH 350), while 5.077 work permits may be issued for new employment of foreigners (FBiH 3.000, RS1.500, and Brcko District of BiH 577 work permits).
At the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Council adopted a Decision determining the Customs Tariff for 2026, harmonised with the Harmonised System and the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union (EU).
The adoption of this decision will enable more successful conduct of foreign trade operations between economic entities in BiH and in the countries signatories to the CEFTA Agreement, that is, the member states of the EU.
The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Analysis of the Foreign Trade Exchange of BiH for the period I-IX 2025, which the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations submits on a quarterly basis.
Total foreign trade exchange compared to the same period in 2024 increased by 4.93 percent, imports increased by 4.33 percent, and exports by 6 percent, and coverage of imports by exports increased by 0.90 percent and amounts to 56.67 percent, with an increase in the foreign trade deficit of 2.22 percent.
According to the analysis, total goods exchange of BiH in the period I-IX 2025 amounted to 34.83 billion BAM. The value of exported goods was 12.60 billion BAM, while the value of imported goods amounted to 22.23 billion BAM, which led to a foreign trade deficit of 9.63 billion BAM.
In the nine months of this year, BiH exported the most electricity in the value of 654.9 million BAM, insulated wire and cables in the value of 549.7 million BAM, iron or steel structures and their parts in the value of 417.3 million BAM, parts and accessories for motor and towing vehicles in the value of 400.8 million BAM, and other furniture and its parts in the value of 338.8 million BAM.
At the same time, BiH imported the most petroleum oils, other than crude, in the value of 1.63 billion BAM, passenger cars in the value of 1.03 billion BAM, medicines in the value of 581.2 million BAM, and electricity in the value of 482.3 million BAM.
The most goods were exported to: Croatia 2.32 billion BAM, Germany 1.83 billion BAM, Serbia 1.40 billion BAM, Austria 1.17 billion BAM, Slovenia 1.04 billion BAM, and Italy 939.32 million BAM.
The most goods were imported from: Italy 2.57 billion BAM, Germany 2.52 billion BAM, Serbia 2.40 billion BAM, China 2.35 billion BAM, Croatia 1.93 billion BAM, and Turkey 1.21 billion BAM.
