# Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia compared Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 1 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bih-vs-srb Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1377 — Tvrtko I is crowned King of Bosnia - Serbia: 1166 — Stefan Nemanja founds the dynasty that becomes the Serbian state ## Economy | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $30 B | 2024 | $90 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $9,359 | 2024 | $13,679 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 3.0% | 2024 | 3.9% | 2024 | | Inflation | 1.7% | 2024 | 4.7% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 95.2% | 2024 | 111.7% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 3.2 m | 2024 | 6.6 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 78.0 yrs | 2024 | 76.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 52.1% | 2024 | 62.4% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.5 | 2024 | 1.6 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 49.9 | 2024 | 48.7 | 2024 | | Political stability | 57.3 | 2024 | 63.0 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 39.0 | 2024 | 53.3 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 49.3 | 2024 | 56.1 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 51.5 | 2024 | 53.5 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 37.5 | 2024 | 36.5 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 8.9% | 2023 | 8.0% | 2023 | | Physicians | 2.58 | 2019 | 3.10 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 6.9 | 2024 | 5.4 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 69.0% | 2024 | 84.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 86.4% | 2024 | 75.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 97.0% | 2013 | 99.3% | 2022 | | Education spending | 3.2% | 2023 | 3.4% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 101.2% | 2023 | 96.0% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 87.9% | 2023 | 89.8% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 45.5% | 2023 | 70.6% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.2% | 2024 | 0.9% | 2024 | | Researchers (per million) | 705 | 2024 | 2,688 | 2024 | | Internet users | 86.1% | 2024 | 87.7% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 121 | 2024 | 124 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 6.2% | 2024 | 4.5% | 2007 | ## Geography | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 51,200 km² | 2023 | 84,090 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 42.7% | 2023 | 32.4% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 21.7% | 2023 | 40.4% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 6.4 | 2024 | — | — | | Renewable energy | 36.6% | 2021 | 27.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 1.7% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.7% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.5% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 0.7% | 2024 | 2.6% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $216 M | 2024 | $2.3 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 11,000 | 2020 | 32,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BIH.md and https://terralore.co/country/SRB.md. ## Entangled histories (1 event) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 26 Feb 2007: **ICJ Genocide judgment (Bosnia v. Serbia)** — The International Court of Justice held that genocide was committed at Srebrenica and that Serbia had violated the Genocide Convention by failing to prevent it and to cooperate with the ICTY. (from the Bosnia and Herzegovina chronicle; sources: Summary of the Judgment of 26 February 2007 (Bosnia v. Serbia); Application of the Genocide Convention (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro)) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BIH/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SRB/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia compared", terralore.co/compare/bih-vs-srb, retrieved .