The Canton of Sarajevo is still the most developed in the Federation of BiH, while the second and third places are occupied by the Cantons of West Herzegovina and Herzegovina-Neretva.
The Federal Institute for Development Programming published the annual index of cantonal development for 2025, according to which the Zenica-Doboj canton overtook the Tuzla canton and took fifth place on the ranking list, writes BiznisInfo.ba.
It is an annual development index that represents the sum of five key socioeconomic indicators – income from income tax per inhabitant, level of employment, population movement, share of the elderly population and education of the workforce. The aim of the index is to measure the overall level of cantonal development and monitor regional differences in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the new ranking, the order of the cantons looks like this:
- Canton of Sarajevo
- West Herzegovina Canton
- Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
- Bosnian-Podrinje canton of Goražde
- Zenica-Doboj canton
- Tuzla canton
- Central Bosnian Canton
- Una-Sana canton
- Posavina Canton
- Canton 10.
ZDK overtook the Tuzla Canton
The only change between the cantons compared to last year is the change of place between Zenica-Doboj and Tuzla cantons. The Zenica-Doboj canton advanced by one position and now occupies the fifth place, while the Tuzla canton fell to the sixth position.
The Federal Institute for Development Programming states that these two cantons have actually returned to the schedule that was present two years ago, which shows that the differences between them are relatively small. The indicator of income from income tax had the greatest influence on the change.
Sarajevo is far ahead of the others
Sarajevo Canton is still convincingly leading with a development index of 1.96, significantly ahead of the second-placed West Herzegovina Canton, whose index is 1.16. The Herzegovina-Neretva canton is in third place with an index of 1.05, while the Bosnian-Podrinj canton of Goražde is fourth with an index of 1.02.
Zenica-Doboj and Tuzla cantons have almost identical index values - 0.83 and 0.82, respectively, which explains why their positions on the ranking list change from time to time.
Only one canton in the most developed group
According to the methodology of the Federal Institute for Development Programming, the cantons are divided into three development groups. In the first, most developed group, there is only Sarajevo Canton, whose development index is greater than 1.25.
The second group includes the West Herzegovina, Herzegovina-Neretva, Bosnia-Podrinje, Zenica-Doboj, Tuzla and Central Bosnia cantons. The third group consists of Una-Sana Canton, Posavina Canton and Canton 10, which have the lowest development index in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
How the development index is calculated
The development index is a composite indicator used to assess the level of development of cantons and local self-government units in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is calculated on the basis of five indicators, with income from income tax per inhabitant having the greatest weight (25 percent), while the level of employment, population movement and the level of education of the workforce each have 20 percent, and the participation of the elderly population 15 percent. Based on these indicators, the cantons are classified into three groups of development, it says Business Info.
