Home / Country / Romania vs Serbia
Romania vs Serbia
Price level and homicide-based safety head to head, plus every ICP category both Romania and Serbia publish. Statistics, not reviews.
1Visa-free traveltourist stays
Do I need a visa for Romania or Serbia
Tourist entry rules in both directions: a passport from Romania travelling to Serbia, and a passport from Serbia travelling to Romania.
Tourist stays only, refreshed with each release. Long stays always need a consular check.
3Climate · capital cities
Weather and climate: Romania against Serbia, month by month
How warm and how wet each month is, averaged over twenty years. Measured in Bucharest and Belgrade — the capital city, not the whole country.
Pinch with two fingers to zoom · double-tap to reset.
Bucharest · Romania Belgrade · Serbia
Warmest
July in both — 25.0° vs 24.4°
Coldest
January — -1.6° vs -0.3°
Kinder months to visit
May–Sep in Bucharest · May–Sep in Belgrade
“Kinder months” is our own reading: a mean of 15–26 °C with moderate rain, measured at the capital.
4bFood price levels2024
Where food is cheaper, Romania or Serbia
EU average = 100 for 2024: above 100 is dearer than the EU, below 100 is cheaper. These are published price levels, not prices — they say how far apart two countries are, not what a kilo costs.
Base: EU27_2020 = 100, 2024. Note: A price level index says how a country compares with the EU average in the same year, not what anything costs. Values above 100 mean dearer than the EU average, below 100 cheaper. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, and this block is shown only when both countries are covered. Index values are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own. The headline index beside this table sits on a different base, World = 100, so the two must not be read against each other.
3Price level · US = 100
on the price-level index · gap 4% · Romania cheaper
Moving to Serbia
Serbia asks for a bit more: 4% higher on the overall price level.
Moving to Romania
A modest saving: prices in Romania run 4% below Serbia.
5bPay by occupation2022
Salary compared: Romania and Serbia
Mean gross monthly pay in euro, 2022, before tax and social contributions. Europe publishes pay for nine broad groups of work, not for named jobs — and these are means, which large salaries pull upwards, unlike the medians in the card beside this one.
mean gross monthly earnings in euro, enterprises with 10 employees or more, all ages, both sexes. Note: These are means, not medians, so large salaries pull them up; they are gross, before tax and social contributions. The survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest round. Occupations are the nine broad ISCO-08 groups — Europe publishes nothing finer, unlike the United States. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. Earnings are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own.
5Actual pay
The median wage: half of employees earn less than this, half earn more. Gross monthly pay in 2022, before tax and social contributions.
Romania pays more
Higher median pay — 24% more, and still 30% ahead once local prices are taken into account.
PPS units are the source’s own adjustment for price differences between countries.
Same life, other side
Spending of $1,682 a month — income per head in Romania — goes as far as about $1,750 in Serbia. Income per head there is $1,123, 36% short of it — the move works better on a salary brought from elsewhere.
Amounts a month, before tax, scaled by the ratio of the two overall price levels — our own calculation.
4bEnergy pricesmeasured
Electricity and gas prices in Romania and Serbia
Prices households actually pay, in euro per kilowatt-hour with every tax and levy included, as published for 2025-S2. Both rows are published figures; only the difference column is ours.
Consumption bands: electricity band DC, 2 500-4 999 kWh a year; gas band D2, 20-199 GJ a year; both including all taxes and levies. Note: Prices are per kilowatt-hour for a typical household band, including all taxes and levies, as published. Where a country has not reported the latest half-year, its most recent reported half-year is used and named in the row. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. Prices are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own. A dash means that price is not published for the country.
8Where this pair sits
Price twins
Romania’s price zone
Serbia’s price zone
nearest price levels worldwide · tap to compare
Same lifestyle, new price
$1,000 in Romania buys what $1,043 buys in Serbia
because the same basket of goods and services is priced 4% lower in Romania — 48.8 against 50.9 on the price-level index. The amount is a round sum for illustration, not a converted price.
average across the economy · estimate
Safety ranks · of 84
#27ROMANIA #33SERBIA
by homicide-based score, safest first
Romania’s safety zone
Serbia’s safety zone
nearest world ranks · tap to compare
categories cheaper, of the 25 both countries publish · widest gap: Communication +100%
10What the numbers say
The split: cost favours Romania by 4%, the homicide-based score favours Romania by 2 points. Which matters more depends on whose paycheck crosses the border.
Editor’s note. Averages hide category stories: the widest single gap here is Communication at +100%. Budget the move by category, not by the headline number.
Release v2026-08; homicide rates carry their own year per country. World ranks — #27 and #33 of 85 by score.
10bPlan your move
Which one suits you?
Fill in your situation — we score this pair against your numbers, then check the other 81 countries for a better fit.
Guidance from published statistics, not immigration or financial advice — see the disclaimer.
12Keep exploring
Close cousins
Honduras vs SerbiaMontenegro vs SerbiaChile vs RomaniaPanama vs Romania
∑Plan your budget
What your month would cost after the move
Enter what you spend today. Each line is repriced with the ICP ratio for that category — your numbers, our coefficients.
Filling uses average household spending per person in each country, scaled to your household on the OECD-modified scale — the first adult counts as 1.0, every further adult as 0.5, every child as 0.3, because a second person in the same home does not double the rent or the heating. Two adults therefore stand at 1.5 people, not 2.
Where the money moves
Starting figures are actual household spending per person (2025), scaled to your household on the OECD-modified scale and split by typical consumption shares, with category ratios from the same price survey as the basket above. Rent varies enormously by city and district — replace it with the figure you actually pay. Estimate, not advice.
Everything else
All the comparisons on this page’s two sides
All comparisons with Romania 74
- Romania vs Albania
- Romania vs Antigua and Barbuda
- Romania vs Argentina
- Romania vs Australia
- Romania vs Austria
- Romania vs Bahamas
- Romania vs Barbados
- Romania vs Belgium
- Romania vs Belize
- Romania vs Bolivia
- Romania vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Romania vs Brazil
- Romania vs Bulgaria
- Romania vs Canada
- Romania vs Chile
- Romania vs Colombia
- Romania vs Costa Rica
- Romania vs Croatia
- Romania vs Cyprus
- Romania vs Czech Republic
- Romania vs Denmark
- Romania vs Dominica
- Romania vs Dominican Republic
- Romania vs Ecuador
- Romania vs El Salvador
- Romania vs Estonia
- Romania vs Fiji
- Romania vs Finland
- Romania vs France
- Romania vs Germany
- Romania vs Greece
- Romania vs Grenada
- Romania vs Guatemala
- Romania vs Guyana
- Romania vs Haiti
- Romania vs Honduras
- Romania vs Hungary
- Romania vs Iceland
- Romania vs Ireland
- Romania vs Italy
- Romania vs Jamaica
- Romania vs Kiribati
- Romania vs Latvia
- Romania vs Lithuania
- Romania vs Luxembourg
- Romania vs Malta
- Romania vs Marshall Islands
- Romania vs Mexico
- Romania vs Micronesia
- Romania vs Montenegro
- Romania vs Netherlands
- Romania vs New Zealand
- Romania vs Nicaragua
- Romania vs North Macedonia
- Romania vs Norway
- Romania vs Panama
- Romania vs Paraguay
- Romania vs Peru
- Romania vs Poland
- Romania vs Portugal
- Romania vs Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Romania vs Saint Lucia
- Romania vs Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Romania vs Serbia
- Romania vs Slovakia
- Romania vs Slovenia
- Romania vs Spain
- Romania vs Suriname
- Romania vs Sweden
- Romania vs Switzerland
- Romania vs Trinidad and Tobago
- Romania vs United Kingdom
- Romania vs United States
- Romania vs Uruguay
All comparisons with Serbia 74
- Serbia vs Albania
- Serbia vs Antigua and Barbuda
- Serbia vs Argentina
- Serbia vs Australia
- Serbia vs Austria
- Serbia vs Bahamas
- Serbia vs Barbados
- Serbia vs Belgium
- Serbia vs Belize
- Serbia vs Bolivia
- Serbia vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Serbia vs Brazil
- Serbia vs Bulgaria
- Serbia vs Canada
- Serbia vs Chile
- Serbia vs Colombia
- Serbia vs Costa Rica
- Serbia vs Croatia
- Serbia vs Cyprus
- Serbia vs Czech Republic
- Serbia vs Denmark
- Serbia vs Dominica
- Serbia vs Dominican Republic
- Serbia vs Ecuador
- Serbia vs El Salvador
- Serbia vs Estonia
- Serbia vs Fiji
- Serbia vs Finland
- Serbia vs France
- Serbia vs Germany
- Serbia vs Greece
- Serbia vs Grenada
- Serbia vs Guatemala
- Serbia vs Guyana
- Serbia vs Haiti
- Serbia vs Honduras
- Serbia vs Hungary
- Serbia vs Iceland
- Serbia vs Ireland
- Serbia vs Italy
- Serbia vs Jamaica
- Serbia vs Kiribati
- Serbia vs Latvia
- Serbia vs Lithuania
- Serbia vs Luxembourg
- Serbia vs Malta
- Serbia vs Marshall Islands
- Serbia vs Mexico
- Serbia vs Micronesia
- Serbia vs Montenegro
- Serbia vs Netherlands
- Serbia vs New Zealand
- Serbia vs Nicaragua
- Serbia vs North Macedonia
- Serbia vs Norway
- Serbia vs Panama
- Serbia vs Paraguay
- Serbia vs Peru
- Serbia vs Poland
- Serbia vs Portugal
- Serbia vs Romania
- Serbia vs Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Serbia vs Saint Lucia
- Serbia vs Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Serbia vs Slovakia
- Serbia vs Slovenia
- Serbia vs Spain
- Serbia vs Suriname
- Serbia vs Sweden
- Serbia vs Switzerland
- Serbia vs Trinidad and Tobago
- Serbia vs United Kingdom
- Serbia vs United States
- Serbia vs Uruguay
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13Sources & licences
Sources behind this comparison
Our calculations, not official figures.
Sources: World Bank WDI · ICP 2021 · UNODC via WDI · Passport Index · NASA POWER · Eurostat · BLS · Statistics Canada · release v2026-08
Rights holder: The World Bank · World Development Indicators, PA.NUS.PRVT.PLI · reference year 2025 · accessed 22 July 2026 · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0, reuse subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. Values are reproduced as published; United States = 100 is the indicator’s own base. Every ranking, gap and comment is a Costely calculation. Note: The World Bank does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: The World Bank · International Comparison Program 2021, measure PX.WL · benchmark year 2021, published May 2024 · accessed 22 July 2026 · worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0 — commercial use permitted, subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. World = 100 — a different base from the summary index above; the two are deliberately not merged.
Rights holder: The World Bank (distribution); original data provider: UNODC (Intentional Homicide, UN-CTS) · WDI VC.IHR.PSRC.P5 · latest available year per country, marked on the page · accessed 22 July 2026 · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0 — these terms describe the World Bank distribution, not a licence we assign to UNODC data. Rates are reproduced exactly as published, per 100,000 population. Note: the homicide-based score — clamp(105 − 20·ln(1 + rate), 0, 100) — is our construction, not a World Bank or UNODC indicator, and covers intentional homicide only.
Rights holder: Passport Index (Arton Capital) · open dataset · accessed 8 August 2026 · passport-index-dataset · licence: MIT — commercial use permitted with attribution. Codes cover tourist stays only; day counts are reproduced as published. Note: entry rules change frequently — always confirm with the consulate before booking.
Rights holder: NASA Langley Research Center · POWER Project, MERRA-2 monthly climatology, T2M and PRECTOTCORR · averaging period January 2001 – December 2020 · accessed 13 August 2026 · power.larc.nasa.gov · U.S. Government work, public domain — free to use, including commercially. Each figure is the model grid cell containing the capital city, reproduced as published. Note: the capital is not the whole country, and the “kinder months to visit” band (15–26 °C mean, moderate rain) is a Costely reading, not a NASA recommendation. NASA does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Structure of Earnings Survey, earn_ses_monthly — median and mean gross monthly earnings, all employees, industry, construction and services except public administration · reference year 2022 · accessed 14 August 2026 · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Figures are reproduced as published; PPS values are Eurostat’s own adjustment for price differences between countries. Note: gross pay before tax and social contributions; the survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest wave. The European Commission does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Structure of earnings survey 2022 (earn_ses22_21), mean monthly earnings by occupation · mean gross monthly earnings in euro, enterprises with 10 employees or more, all ages, both sexes · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Earnings are reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: These are means, not medians, so large salaries pull them up; they are gross, before tax and social contributions. The survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest round. Occupations are the nine broad ISCO-08 groups — Europe publishes nothing finer, unlike the United States. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. These are means, while the median wage card on the same page comes from the same survey but is a different measure, so the two figures will not match. The European Commission does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Purchasing power parities, price level indices by expenditure category (prc_ppp_ind) · EU27_2020 = 100, reference year 2024 · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Index values are reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: these are price levels, not prices — 100 is the EU average of the same year, so a value of 120 means dearer than the EU average by a fifth, and nothing about what a kilo costs. This measure is shown only when both countries of a pair are covered by Eurostat, which is the EU, EFTA and candidate countries; every other pair keeps the World Bank benchmark of 2021 on the World = 100 base, and the two must not be read against each other. A price level index says how a country compares with the EU average in the same year, not what anything costs. Values above 100 mean dearer than the EU average, below 100 cheaper. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, and this block is shown only when both countries are covered. The European Commission does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Energy prices for household consumers, bi-annual data (nrg_pc_204 electricity, nrg_pc_202 gas) · 2025-S2 · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Consumption bands: electricity band DC, 2 500-4 999 kWh a year; gas band D2, 20-199 GJ a year; both including all taxes and levies. Prices are in euro and reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, because the reuse terms do not extend to data about other countries. Prices are per kilowatt-hour for a typical household band, including all taxes and levies, as published. Where a country has not reported the latest half-year, its most recent reported half-year is used and named in the row. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. The European Commission does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: The World Bank · World Development Indicators, household final consumption expenditure per capita · spending per person converted to a month, in current US dollars · accessed not recorded — collected before the plugin stored provenance in the file · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0, reuse subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. Used only as the starting point of the cost planner; the split by category uses the International Comparison Program 2021 ratios listed above, and household size is scaled on the OECD-modified equivalence scale. Note: The monthly figure and the flag marking an estimated year are Costely calculations. The World Bank does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Current Employment Statistics, national — average weekly earnings of all employees, total private, CES0500000011 · retrieved 14 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/ces · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The monthly figure is a Costely conversion from weekly earnings. Note: this is an average, while the European figures are medians, so the two are not measured the same way; averages sit above medians. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS does not endorse this site.
Rights holder: Statistics Canada · Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, table 14-10-0223-01, vector 79311153 — average weekly earnings including overtime, all employees, industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses, seasonally adjusted · May 2026 · accessed 14 August 2026 · www150.statcan.gc.ca · Statistics Canada Open Licence — reuse and redistribution permitted, including commercially, with acknowledgement of source. Reproduced and distributed on an “as is” basis with the permission of Statistics Canada. The published value is weekly; the monthly figure and the conversion to US dollars are Costely calculations. Note: this is a mean, unlike the Eurostat medians. Statistics Canada does not endorse this website.