The import of food and other agricultural and food products in BiH last year amounted to more than 5.3 billion marks.
It is not unknown that BiH records a huge deficit in the foreign trade exchange of these products, with the fact that it was additionally increased last year.
According to the data of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the total volume of exchange in 2025 reached a record six billion and 536.63 million KM, and is nine percent higher than in 2024.
What the data shows
“The export of agricultural and food products amounted to one billion and 214.05 million KM (it is higher by 10 percent compared to the year 2024), while the import was significantly higher compared to the export and amounted to five billion and 322.58 million KM (in comparison to the year 2024 it is higher by eight percent), it was stated in the Analysis of foreign trade exchange of agricultural and food products of BiH with the world for 2025.
Therefore, regardless of the growth of exports, the foreign trade deficit of agricultural and food products is still high, and in 2025 it amounted to four billion and 108.53 million KM.
“In 2025, the foreign trade exchange of agricultural and food products of BiH with the world recorded growth, primarily under the influence of the increase in the prices of raw materials, energy and food on the global market. Higher prices led to an increase in the value of imports, although the quantities did not increase significantly, while at the same time the increase in prices had a partially positive effect on exports because domestic producers could generate higher incomes from the sale of certain products, such as fruit and processed products”, the relevant ministry stated.
Dependence on imports
The structure of the exchange, as assessed, indicates a pronounced dependence on the import of products with higher added value, while exports are still based on raw materials and products of a lower stage of processing.
“The growth of import values was additionally stimulated by the increase in the prices of key products such as meat, coffee and chocolate, while on the export side, the increase in the prices of oil, raspberries and bakery products had a positive effect”, emphasized the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH.
Left to their own devices
Savo Bakajlić, president of the Association of Agricultural Producers of the villages of Semberije and Majevica, says that farmers are left to their own devices, and that it is necessary to protect domestic production.
“All that food that cannot end up anywhere in the world ends up in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have been asking for many years to protect domestic production, to introduce customs duties and levies on imported goods, but you can see that nothing has come of it,” said Bakajlić.
Redžo Omerbašić, vice president of the Posavina Canton Consumer Club, says that as long as we do not support domestic agriculture and do not rely on our own production, we are doomed.
“We have to produce our own. We still have land that is uncultivable. All ministries should support the development of agriculture, because we have to have our own. We have to feed our population. The state must protect production. When we produce, we employ the population and that is one important connection,” Omerbašić said in a statement to “Independent newspaper“.
