Serbia pensioner poverty: 455,000 living in destitution

Jovan Tamburić, president of the Serbia Center Retirees Forum and candidate for European Serbia, has reported that the share of pension costs in Serbia's GDP has decreased from 13 percent to between 9 and 10 percent since 2014.

Tamburić stated that the average pension has dropped from 58 percent of the average salary to approximately 45-46 percent, currently amounting to about 39,800 dinars. He noted that this figure is below the poverty line for two people, as the individual poverty line is approximately 46,000 dinars. According to his findings, roughly 455,000 pensioners in Serbia receive amounts below the minimum pension, and approximately 52,000 receive less than 10,000 dinars, leading to widespread poverty and destitution.

Furthermore, Tamburić highlighted that between 2014 and 2018, approximately 850,000 pensioners and their heirs were affected by pension reductions totaling 840 million euros, citing a report submitted by the Serbian government to the European Court of Human Rights. He argued that the state should return these unpaid pensions with interest, suggesting options such as monthly repayments over four years or providing pensioners with shares in the Development Bank of Serbia.