With a population density of 91 residents per km² (2017), Serbia is one of the more densely populated countries in Europe. The population density varies greatly from region to region. It is lowest in rural regions of southwest and southeast Serbia. The metropolitan area of the capital Belgrade has the greatest density.
Of the almost 7.0 million residents of Serbia, 52 percent live in cities and 28 percent in rural areas. In addition to the capital Belgrade, where almost 30 percent of the urban population live, the largest cities are Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, Subotica and Pančevo.
Road network
The road network is 45,290 kilometers long. According to areacodesexplorer, Serbia has 498 kilometers of toll motorways and 136 kilometers of toll semi-motorways. The road network includes 2,638 bridges and 78 tunnels, but very few of them are illuminated. The infrastructure is gradually being expanded. Many motorways and expressways are being planned and built. Today’s autoput Beograd – Šid, the E 75 motorway, is the most important motorway route in Serbia. It connects to the Croatian A3 motorway at the Batrovci border crossing and then runs about 387 kilometers south-east towards Leskovac. One arm of the E 75 runs north of Belgrade in a northerly direction through Vojvodina, through the provincial capital Novi Sad and on to the Serbian-Hungarian border. The construction of the E 75 has been going on for several years in southern Serbia, where it had previously ended in Leskovac. In a southerly direction, the line is being expanded to the Serbian-Macedonian border; in an easterly direction it is expanded to the town of Dimitrovgrad, and thus to the Serbian-Bulgarian border. The expansion of both routes should initially be completed by the end of 2018, but has been further delayed.
The construction of a motorway from Belgrade to Čačak in central Serbia has also been underway for several years. From there, the construction of two highways is planned, which will connect the Serbian capital with the capitals of Montenegro, Podgorica, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo. Both the expansion of the E 75 (the so-called Corridor 10) towards Macedonia and Bulgaria and the construction of the new autobahn towards Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro are part of the EU-funded expansion of the European motorway network in Southeastern Europe.
As part of the normalization process that has begun between Serbia and Kosovo, the construction of a motorway from the southern Serbian metropolis of Niš to the Kosovar capital Prishtina, or the 77 km long section from Niš to the border town of Merdare – on the Kosovar side, the construction of the motorway to to the capital Prishtina has already been completed. In 2017, the Serbian government announced the start of highway construction in the Serbian section for 2018. However, this is delayed further. The start of construction was initially announced for the beginning of 2019. It is now planned for autumn 2020 after the Serbian government signed a loan agreement with the European Development Bank in September 2019had signed for the first phase of construction. With the completion of the motorway, the connection of the Serbian corridor 10 to Albania to the capital Tirana and on to the port city Drac will be created.
Rail network
Serbia has 3809 kilometers of railway lines. 1,364 kilometers of this are electrified. The most important long-distance train stations are Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Subotica. The connection to the high-speed line is currently being expanded in sections; a continuous expansion for high-speed traffic is being planned. In addition to domestic lines, Serbia’s railways operate connections from Belgrade to Bar (Montenegro), Istanbul and several EU countries, including Sofia and Budapest with through coaches to Munich, Zurich and Vienna.
Waterways
Inland navigation is an important mode of transport. There are many river ports for passengers and goods on the Danube, Sava and Tisza. There is a water connection to the Black Sea via the Danube. There are several shipyards along the Danube. Belgrade’s international passenger port is located on the right bank of the Sava River.
Air traffic
The international airport “Nikola Tesla” Belgrade plays the most important role for air traffic. There are direct connections with Germany to Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Berlin (air traffic with Germany is currently restricted due to Corona). In January 2018 the Serbian government awarded the contract to operate the capital’s airport to the French group Vinci. Vinci paid 501 million euros for the 25-year concession and promised investments of over 700 million euros. There is also the international airport “Konstantin Veliki” in Niš which has been served by European low-cost airlines for several years. In July 2018, the city council of Niš decided, despite months of civil protests, to transfer the management of the airport to the Serbian state.
There are also Ponikve airports in Užice and Morava near Kraljevo, the latter is also a military airport. Both have been renovated and expanded for years, supposedly also for civil use and for international flights.
The only national airline is the national JAT Airways. In 2013, the airline Etihad Airways from the United Arab Emirates joined the Serbian airline, which has been called Air Serbia since then and has been significantly modernized.