# Hungary and Serbia compared Hungary and Serbia side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 3 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/hun-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 - Hungary: 1000 — Stephen I is crowned and founds the Christian kingdom of Hungary - Serbia: 1166 — Stefan Nemanja founds the dynasty that becomes the Serbian state ## Economy | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $223 B | 2024 | $90 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $23,292 | 2024 | $13,679 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 0.6% | 2024 | 3.9% | 2024 | | Inflation | 3.7% | 2024 | 4.7% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 146.5% | 2024 | 111.7% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 9.6 m | 2024 | 6.6 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 76.7 yrs | 2024 | 76.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 70.5% | 2024 | 62.4% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.4 | 2024 | 1.6 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 56.4 | 2024 | 48.7 | 2024 | | Political stability | 73.3 | 2024 | 63.0 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 61.1 | 2024 | 53.3 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 60.1 | 2024 | 56.1 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 60.3 | 2024 | 53.5 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 48.7 | 2024 | 36.5 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 6.4% | 2023 | 8.0% | 2023 | | Physicians | 3.46 | 2022 | 3.10 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 3.7 | 2024 | 5.4 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 99.0% | 2024 | 84.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 100.0% | 2024 | 75.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Education spending | 3.8% | 2022 | 3.4% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 102.9% | 2024 | 96.0% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 107.4% | 2024 | 89.8% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 60.5% | 2024 | 70.6% | 2024 | | Adult literacy | — | — | 99.3% | 2022 | ## Technology | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 1.4% | 2023 | 0.9% | 2024 | | Researchers (per million) | 4,567 | 2023 | 2,688 | 2024 | | Internet users | 93.8% | 2024 | 87.7% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 105 | 2024 | 124 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 22.6% | 2024 | 4.5% | 2007 | ## Geography | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 91,260 km² | 2023 | 84,090 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 22.4% | 2023 | 32.4% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 55.7% | 2023 | 40.4% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 4.5 | 2024 | — | — | | Renewable energy | 15.3% | 2021 | 27.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 1.7% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.2% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.7% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Hungary | Observed | Serbia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 2.2% | 2024 | 2.6% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $4.7 B | 2024 | $2.3 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 46,000 | 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/HUN.md and https://terralore.co/country/SRB.md. ## Entangled histories (3 events) 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. - 1402–1459: **The Serbian Despotate** — A reduced Serbian state survived as the Despotate, ruled latterly from Smederevo and balancing between the Ottomans and Hungary, prolonging Serb statehood for another half-century. (from the Serbia chronicle; sources: Serbia: History) - 1912–1913: **The Balkan Wars** — Serbia drove the Ottomans from most of their European lands and, after the Second Balkan War, gained Kosovo, Metohija and much of Macedonia, nearly doubling its territory and alarming Austria-Hungary. (from the Serbia chronicle; sources: Serbia: History) - 28 Jun 1914: **Assassination at Sarajevo** — The Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo; Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, and its declaration of war triggered the First World War. (from the Serbia chronicle; sources: Serbia: History) ## 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/HUN/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SRB/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Hungary and Serbia compared", terralore.co/compare/hun-vs-srb, retrieved .