The Yugo, a communist-era car from the former Yugoslavia, was widely ridiculed for shedding its parts on roads across Europe and the United States. Zastava, which made Yugo, fared even worse than its product. After the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, the factory was reduced to producing only...

An effective and equitable social protection system can help Kosovo to promote human capital, foster productivity, and reduce poverty. Since its independence in 2008, the country has made considerable socioeconomic progress, benefiting from the support of the international community and its own...

The European Commission's Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations approached the World Bank to develop an evidence base and to deliver policy advice and technical assistance for supporting the effective reintegration of (Roma) returnees in the Western Balkans: Albania,...

Improving the efficiency and equity of public spending and strengthening revenue mobilization remains a priority in all Western Balkan countries. Public sector wage bills and pensions constitute the largest share of public spending in the region. Tighter controls on wage bills, reducing tax...

Ambient air pollution (AAP) is a serious global health problem that accounts for an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year. People in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans are frequently exposed to air pollution levels above those considered safe, particularly in the winter....

Growth in the six South East European countries (SEE6) rebounded to 2.1 percent in 2015, as investment revived. The SEE6 region is not only growing but also rebalancing to more durable sources of growth. While higher growth in 2015 brought new jobs in the private sector, and helped poverty...

GDP growth in the Western Balkans slowed from 3.1 percent in 2016 to an estimated 2.4 percent in 2017. Regional growth in 2017 is less optimistic than the 2.6 percent expected when the Fall issue of this report was published. It slowed in Serbia due to a harsh winter and stalled in FYR...

Growth in the Western Balkans has strengthened to an estimated 3.5 percent. In most of the region, growth projections for 2018 have been revised upward. Growth was stimulated by higher public investment and consumption. Driven by tax reforms and faster growth, higher tax revenues created fiscal...

The agri-food industry, comprising agricultural inputs, primary agricultural production, off-farm food processing, food distribution, food retail and consumption, and other food-related services, is one of the most important industries in the Western Balkans in terms of turnover, jobs and...