Serbia has received top ranking in a global report on new jobs opened by attracting foreign investments, the Serbian Development Agency said on Thursday.

Serbia is ranked in the number one spot on a list of destination countries by estimated jobs per million inhabitants in the IBM Institute for Business Value Global Location Trends 2018 annual report. Serbia ranked 15th on the list for the previous year.  

The report said the country has taken the top spot among a smaller number of countries which lead the global ranking measured relative to population and continues to receive significant investments in key sectors such as textiles, transport equipment, chemicals and electronics.  

“The continued strong performance by Serbia and the wider Western Balkans in attracting foreign direct investments and opening new jobs shows the region’s growing success,” the report said and added that the Western Balkans is “cementing its position in global value chains”.  

“The Western Balkans saw mixed overall results, with Serbia maintaining a stable strong performance, Bosnia and Herzegovina tripling inward investment and Croatia and Macedonia both experiencing serious declines of more than 60 percent,” the report said.  

The annual report analyzes the latest trends in where companies locate their new operations around the world, and what drives these decisions. The report is produced by Plant Location International (PLI), the global center of excellence in IBM Global Business Services for location strategy and economic development consulting.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.