- The closest neighbor of the EU - Eastern Serbia has 330 km of border with the EU (Romania and Bulgaria).
- Area of 7,133 km²
- Two administrative districts - Zajecar and Bor, two cities - Zajecar and Bor and six municipalities: Knjazevac, Boljevac, Sokobanja, Negotin, Majdanpek and Kladovo.
- 200,785 inhabitants
- More than 6,300 entrepreneurs and 1,700 companies.
- About 54,000 people are employed with an average salary of about 69,810 dinars (net), while there are about 14,000 unemployed.
ECONOMY
Population:
| CITY/MUNICIPALITY | DISTRICT | POPULATION |
| Bor | Bor district | 41,280 |
| Kladovo | 18,002 | |
| Majdanpek | 14,663 | |
| Negotin | 29,062 | |
| District total | 103,007 | |
| Boljevac | Zajecar district | 10,373 |
| Knjaževac | 25,459 | |
| Sokobanja | 13,325 | |
| Zaječar | 48,621 | |
| District total | 97,778 | |
| Eastern Serbia Total | 200,785 | |
People with secondary school education dominate the educational structure of the region, including 35.2% women and 48% men, while there are 10% women and 11.6% men with university and master degree.
It is estimated that today more than 30,000 people are in the diaspora.
Total investments in assets in 2021 in Eastern Serbia amounted to 584.2 million euros, and the structure of investments looked like this (in 000€):
| Territory | Total | Construction works |
Domestic equipment |
Imported equipment |
Other |
| Eastern Serbia TOTAL |
584,223 | 242,846 | 66,518 | 194,054 | 80,804 |
| Boljevac | 5,116 | 1,614 | 3,180 | 280 | 42 |
| Bor | 431,514 | 184,706 | 27,649 | 143,368 | 75,790 |
| Zaječar | 44,175 | 15,421 | 18,272 | 8,471 | 2,012 |
| Kladovo | 28,245 | 12,710 | 3,157 | 12,263 | 115 |
| Knjaževac | 3,906 | 897 | 1,256 | 1,446 | 308 |
| Majdanpek | 60,609 | 25,327 | 6,912 | 26,325 | 2,045 |
| Negotin | 8,697 | 1,101 | 5,504 | 1,717 | 375 |
| Sokobanja | 1,960 | 1,070 | 589 | 185 | 117 |
Source: Chamber of Commerce of Zajecar and Bor administrative districts
Looking back five years, in the period from 2017 to 2021, the total export of the region of Eastern Serbia has tripled. Compared to 2017, when it amounted to slightly more than 428 million euros, it increased to 1.37 billion euros in 2021.
The increase in export is significantly higher compared to the growth of export of the Republic of Serbia.
Total export for the period 2017-2021 (in 000 €):
| Territory | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Bor | 211,889 | 211,438 | 365,362 | 417,537 | 1,165,681 |
| Kladovo | 14,851 | 15,515 | 17,949 | 24,589 | 23,867 |
| Majdanpek | 60,179 | 63,311 | 56,545 | 3,491 | 1,575 |
| Negotin | 23,609 | 18,902 | 65,753 | 54,063 | 31,898 |
| Boljevac | 7,753 | 6,068 | 7,243 | 6,324 | 7,306 |
| Zaječar | 70,809 | 65,957 | 45,455 | 31,307 | 91,766 |
| Knjaževac | 38,987 | 41,489 | 48,809 | 40,291 | 48,145 |
| Sokobanja | 60 | 94 | 128 | 316 | 157 |
| Total Eastern Serbia | 428,153 | 422,800 | 607,260 | 577,919 | 1,370,395 |
Import had a similar trend to the growth of export, which grew from 408 million euros in 2017 to 718 million in 2021. In the observed period, Eastern Serbia constantly recorded a surplus.
Total import in the period 2017-2021 (in 000 €):
| Territory | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Bor | 192,494 | 212,911 | 422,264 | 509,092 | 564,856 |
| Kladovo | 13,889 | 15,055 | 15,455 | 10,754 | 19,515 |
| Majdanpek | 72,706 | 65,506 | 53,047 | 4,694 | 7,313 |
| Negotin | 17,685 | 20,349 | 25,753 | 23,365 | 63,229 |
| Boljevac | 4,238 | 3,209 | 3,719 | 3,470 | 4,777 |
| Zaječar | 84,715 | 80,511 | 77,140 | 51,614 | 30,515 |
| Knjaževac | 22,306 | 22,494 | 22,885 | 17,888 | 27,420 |
| Sokobanja | 230 | 298 | 426 | 628 | 426 |
| Total Eastern Serbia | 408,289 | 420,340 | 620,715 | 621,505 | 718,050 |
On the territory of Eastern Serbia in 2022, about 54,000 people were employed, i.e. about a quarter of the total population. The structure of the number of employees by activities is dominated by services. Today, about a quarter of the total number of employees work in the processing industry of Eastern Serbia, and mining with nearly 10% of employees is of exceptional importance for the region.
Average salaries without taxes, in the period from 2015-2022 recorded a significant increase from 41,149 dinars in 2015 to nearly 70.000 dinars in 2022.
In 2022, there were 14,000 registered unemployed in Eastern Serbia. The number of the unemployed has been decreased for more than 1/3 in the last five years, from 20,710 unemployed in 2018 to 14,000 in 2022.
In Eastern Serbia there were 1,766 active companies in 2021 and almost 4 times more registered entrepreneurs (6,396). The number of active entrepreneurs has been constantly growing in the last five years.
One of the most significant investments in Eastern Serbia is certainly the purchase of the Bor Mining and Smelting Complex by the Chinese company Zijin, which has so far invested nearly 700 million dollars, and the planned investments in the mine are more than 3 billion dollars in the municipalities of Bor and Majdanpek.
The largest investment in tourism in Serbia is located in Eastern Serbia - in the municipality of Knjazevac, and that is the construction of a ski center on Stara Planina - construction of ski and supporting infrastructure and hotels) in which over 42 million euros have been invested so far.
Significant investments in the region:
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The region of Eastern Serbia also has significant resources for tourism development: the Danube River with Iron Gate Gorge and Djerdap National Park, mountain massifs dominated by Stara Planina, with a ski center, but also Crni Vrh, Kučaj Mountains, Deli Jovan, Mali and Veliki Krš, Miroč, Veliki Greben, Homolje mountains, Ozren, Rtanj, Devica, Tupižnica, Tresibaba, and Vrlejica, then thermo-mineral springs - primarily Sokobanja, as well as Gamzigradska Banja Spa and Brestovačka Banja Spa. There are potentials for further development of tourism in Nikoličevska Banja Spa, Rgoška Banja Spa, Jošanica Banja spa and many others.
Cultural heritage is represented by archeological sites, cultural monuments, ethno-values of traditional villages: archeological sites Gamzigrad-Felix Romuliana (under UNESCO protection), Lepenski Vir, Ravna-Timacum minus, Diana-Zanes, Fetislam, Trajan's tablet, Trajan's bridge, Vrelo -Šarkaman, Sokograd, Vrmdžanski grad, wine cellars in Rajac, Rogljevo and Smedovac, as well as numerous churches and monasteries.
Number of tourists and number of overnight stays in 2022:
| Territory | Tourists | Overnight stays |
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| Total | Domestic | Foreign | Total | Domestic | Foreign | |
| Bor | 10,694 | 8,700 | 1,994 | 43,780 | 34,990 | 8,790 |
| Kladovo | 39,743 | 31,328 | 8,415 | 109,602 | 86,811 | 22,791 |
| Majdanpek | 20,566 | 17,810 | 2,756 | 48,980 | 44,152 | 4,828 |
| Negotin | 6,422 | 5,386 | 1,036 | 28,749 | 24,910 | 3,839 |
| Zaječar | 14,680 | 10,107 | 4,573 | 43,606 | 32,502 | 11,104 |
| Boljevac | 15,852 | 13,850 | 2,002 | 55,126 | 49,804 | 5,322 |
| Knjaževac | 25,423 | 21,455 | 3,968 | 103,743 | 90,124 | 13,619 |
| Sokobanja | 161,284 | 154,704 | 6,580 | 783,205 | 764,649 | 18,556 |
| Total Eastern Serbia | 294,644 | 263,340 | 31,324 | 1,216,791 | 1,127,942 | 88,849 |
Source: Republic Statistical Office