The Economic Convergence Scoreboard for the Western Balkans is a flagship assessment developed by the OECD South East Europe Division to monitor and evaluate the pace of economic convergence of the six Western Balkan economies, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, towards EU and OECD standards. Drawing on data across six policy clusters, business environment, skills, infrastructure and connectivity, digital transformation, greening, and macrofinancial stability, the Scoreboard translates datasets into clear, actionable insights for policymakers.
The “Preliminary Findings: Economic Convergence Scoreboard for the Western Balkans 2026” meeting, held on 5 June 2026 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania in Bucharest, served as a platform to present, discuss and validate the initial results of the 2026 edition. Co-organised with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by both Bulgaria's and Romania’s financial assistance, the meeting brought together policy-makers and statistical office representatives from each Western Balkan economy, as well as officials from the European Commission and Romanian and Bulgarian administrations.
The meeting also featured a dedicated panel discussion on lessons from Romania and Bulgaria's EU accession experiences, exploring how their institutional, statistical and economic reform trajectories can inform the Western Balkans' own convergence paths.
