Albania and Serbia are the most represented economies in the sample, with around 60% of all responses indicating their location originating from these two economies. This is, largely, in line with the underlying business population in the Western Balkans. By contrast, North Macedonia has the lowest participation in the survey, with their enterprises make up less than 6% of the total population – though its enterprise population is estimated to constitute 12% of the total enterprises across the Western Balkans (OECD, 2026[16]). The representation of other economies is broadly consistent with the enterprise population of the region (Table A A.1).
Western Balkans Enterprise Survey
Navigating the digital and green transition
Note: Official statistics as of 2023 for Albania and Serbia, 2024 for the other economies. Sample size and percentages exclude the 316 respondents that did not report their location of operations.
Source: (OECD, 2026[16])
Micro-enterprises are underrepresented in comparison with the business population in the region. Micro-enterprises (1–9 employees) account for roughly 91% of all enterprises in the Western Balkans (OECD, 2026[16]) and are therefore underrepresented in the sample in which they comprised approximately 47%1 of respondents (Figure A A.1). This is likely to be a result of more limited time and capacity of smaller businesses to respond, as well as the survey outreach strategy that relied heavily on chambers of commerce for circulation, which typically have lower membership from micro-enterprises. Conversely, small and medium-sized firms are substantially overrepresented. Small enterprises (10-49 employees) make up 36% of the sample compared to the business population average of around 7%, while medium-sized firms (50-249 employees) account for 18% of respondents compared to approximately 1.2% in the underlying enterprise population in the region (OECD, 2026[16]). The survey also received several responses from large firms (more than 250 employees): 20 in Albania, 4 in Montenegro, 2 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2 in North Macedonia and 1 in Kosovo. However, these were excluded from most of the analyses, unless it’s stated otherwise, given the report’s focus on SMEs.
A third of surveyed SMEs were operating in the manufacturing sector, while other sectors had much lower representation. 32% of respondent SMEs reported their core activity being in the manufacturing sector, by far the largest category, though this varied considerably across economies, ranging from 10% in Montenegro to 66% in Kosovo. Manufacturing accounts for an average of approximately 12% of SMEs across the Western Balkans (OECD, 2026[16]) and is thus notably overrepresented in the survey sample, leading to results that reflect manufacturing firms more closely than the overall SME population. Professional services was the second largest sector at 12% of respondents, followed by wholesale trade at 8%. All remaining sectors had sample representation below 6% of the entire sample, though at least several responses were recorded across each category.
The majority of respondents were non-exporters, reflecting the low level of exports from the region Half of survey respondents reported that exports accounted for less than 10% of total sales. By contrast, 17% generated more than half their sales through exports, while around 16% were unable to estimate their export share (see Figure A A.3). This reflects the limited engagement with exporting in the Western Balkans, with the exports of goods from the region standing at 22% of GDP in 2024, below the EU’s average level of 34% (Eurostat, 2026[17])
Most surveyed businesses have been in operation for more than a decade. The sample is skewed towards older enterprises, with 57% established before 2015, while 22% have been operating for 6 to 10 years. Younger firms represent a smaller share: 13% have been in business for 3 to 5 years, and 9% are start-ups founded between 2023 and 2025 (see Figure A A.4). While there is a much greater representation of older firms in the sample, this also reflects the demography of the business population in the region, where the average age of businesses is 19 years old, ranging from 15.7 in Albania to 21 in North Macedonia (World Bank, 2026[18]).
Most surveyed businesses are led by a male owner/CEO. Just 32% of surveyed businesses reported having a female owner/CEO, a share that is consistent with OECD evidence on gender gaps in entrepreneurship and business leadership with the wider European phenomenon of "missing women entrepreneurs" (OECD/European Commission, 2023[19]). The leadership of surveyed businesses being dominated by men also reflects broader patterns of women's business ownership across the Western Balkan economies, where rates range from 20% in Bosnia and Herzegovina to 34% in Serbia (OECD, 2026[16]).
← 1. 14 Calculated by summing together those that responded ‘Micro-business’ and ‘Self-entrepreneur’.