Economic Convergence Scoreboard for the Western Balkans 2025

Acknowledgements

The Economic Convergence Scoreboard for the Western Balkans 2025 is the result of work co-ordinated by the South East Europe Division of the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate (GRC), with financial support from the Government of Poland. The report was prepared under the guidance of Marzena Kisielewska, Head of the OECD South East Europe Division, and Umur Gökçe, Economic Advisor.

The methodology for the Scoreboard was led by Benoit Dicharry, with substantial contributions from Hedvig Norlén. The principal authors were Umur Gökçe (Front matter), Benoit Dicharry (Infrastructure and Connectivity, Business Environment, and Methodology), Stephanie Lizzo (Skills, Digital Transformation, and Greening), and Francesco Lacirignola (Introduction, Regional and Economy Profiles).

The report also benefited from input and review by William Tompson (OECD GRC), who served as lead reviewer. Special thanks also go to Hana Aljević, Jovana Pavlović Djukić, Dafina Marashi, and Marijana Petrović (OECD South East Europe Division), all of whom provided valuable feedback throughout the drafting process.

We extend our sincere appreciation to government officials and other stakeholders who actively participated in data collection. Their engagement and commitment were essential to the development of this report. We would especially like to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals who have assumed a strong co-ordinating role:

 

Economy	Statistical offices	Governments
Albania	Elsa Dhuli	Anxhela Bushati
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ivona Bulić	Brankica Pandurević
Kosovo*	Avni Kastrati	Fatmir Curri and Jeton Karaqica
Montenegro	Majda Savićević	Coordinated by Ivona Savićević, with support from Svetlana Stijepović and Marko Savković from the Ministry of Economic Development, through the working group on the OECD Western Balkans Competitiveness Outlook
North Macedonia	Marina Mijovska	Stojne Danilova Ivanoski
Serbia	Nikica Radin, Dušan Radovanović, Sanja Radonjić, Dušanka Dostanić, Uroš Rajčević, Prvoslav Mutavdžić, and Duško Bumbić.	Co-ordinated by Sanja Stojadinović through the working group on the OECD Western Balkans Competitiveness Outlook.

We are particularly grateful to Beata Jaczewska, Agnieszka Kowalska, Radosław Darski, Szymon Wojtasik and Piotr Wysocki, from Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their continued support and insightful guidance throughout the preparation of this report.

The report was edited and proofread by Elizabeth Zachary and was prepared for publication by Meral Gedik. The following people also contributed to the success of the project: Linda Rubene, Valeria Pelosi and Vukan Jokić.