The total foreign trade of Republika Srpska in the first six months of this year reached a value of 6.55 billion KM, but with a sharp deterioration of the foreign trade balance and further growth of the trade gap, according to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics of the RS.
The foreign trade deficit in the period January – June 2026 was 1.32 billion KM, which is an increase of 24.4 percent compared to the same period last year, when the deficit was 1.06 billion KM. As a result, the coverage of imports by exports slipped from last year’s 71.1 to 66.4 percent.
This trend occurred because exports remained at an almost identical level as last year and amounted to 2.61 billion KM, while the import of goods from abroad increased by 7.1 percent and reached 3.93 billion KM.
The coverage of imports by exports fell by 4.7 percentage points, which shows that the domestic economy is finding it increasingly difficult to finance the goods it purchases from abroad through its own exports.
A detailed analysis according to the international trade classification shows that the export structure of the domestic economy still relies mostly on the industrial production of finished products and the processing of raw materials. Various finished products, such as furniture, footwear and clothing, accounted for the largest individual share in exports, with a value of 621.8 million KM, although this sector recorded a 4.5 percent drop compared to the same period last year.
Industrial materials made of wood, metal, rubber and plastic followed with 509.8 million KM exported, while the export of machinery, equipment and means of transport amounted to 409.5 million KM.
The biggest jump on the export side was recorded in the category of raw inedible materials, where exports increased by as much as 11.2 percent and reached 387.3 million KM. A slight increase in exports of 1.7 percent was achieved in mineral fuels and electricity (298.5 million KM), while the export of food and live animals increased by 3.3 percent (159.4 million KM).
On the other hand, the biggest decline in exports was suffered by chemical products with a decrease of 6.5 percent, to 206 million KM, and beverages and tobacco, whose exports fell by 15.2 percent and amounted to 20 million KM.
On the import side, technology, raw materials and energy products lead the way, with a noticeable increase in dependence on foreign machinery and fuel.
In the first six months, RS spent the most money on the import of machinery, equipment and vehicles, a total of 837.3 million KM, which is an increase of 8.3 percent and makes up more than a fifth of total imports. The second largest is the import of industrial materials with 717.4 million KM, while 625.6 million KM was set aside for the import of food and live animals (an increase of 5.2 percent), which is slightly less than a fifth of the total imported goods.
A particularly marked increase in imports was recorded in the sector of mineral fuels and lubricants, where the supply of oil, gas and electricity jumped by as much as 32.6 percent, from last year’s 373.6 million KM to 495.4 million KM in the first half of this year.
Observed by partners, the most important foreign trade partner is still Serbia with a total exchange of 1.11 billion KM (export 487.5 million, import 629.3 million KM). Followed by Italy with 870.4 million KM of total exchange, Croatia with 648 million KM, Germany with 616.1 million KM and Slovenia with 475.4 million KM. The largest surplus of the RS is achieved with Switzerland and Slovakia, while the largest deficit is by far the largest deficit in trade with China, from where goods were imported for 448.2 million KM, and only 11.4 million KM were exported.
