How many NGOs and charities are there in Serbia, and who registers them?
GiveRadar tracks 34,995 NGOs and charities in Serbia, one of the densest registered civil-society sectors on GiveRadar. "NGO" is not a Serbian legal form: most operate as an association (udruzenje) under the 2009 Law on Associations, or as an endowment or foundation.
Associations acquire legal personality on entry in the Register of Associations kept by the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), with endowments and foundations in a separate APR register. This page is drawn directly from that official register.
What does APR registration prove, and what does it not?
An APR entry establishes an association's registered legal existence, identity, purposes, representatives and status, not that it is an effective or trustworthy charity. It is the foundation of legal recognition in Serbia.
The registrar decides from the application and documents without examining the truth of the facts, the authenticity of documents or the legality of the underlying proceedings. Registration therefore certifies neither impact, financial health nor governance quality, so treat a listing here as a registered association, not a vetted charity.
Is there a public-benefit charity status in Serbia?
Serbia has no single, separately awarded charity status like the UK charity register or the US 501(c)(3). The register confirms legal form and purposes, not a charity-quality mark.
Instead, the law recognises specified programmes of public interest that can make an association eligible for public funding, and it records whether an endowment pursues general-benefit or private purposes. These are registration and funding categories, not independent accreditation of an organisation's work.
Are donations to Serbian NGOs tax-deductible?
Mainly for companies, not ordinary individuals. A company may deduct qualifying donations as an expense, up to 5% of total revenue, for listed purposes such as health, education, science, humanitarian, religious, sports and environmental aims.
The recipient must be registered for the relevant purpose and use the donation exclusively for it; a gift outside the listed purposes is not deductible just because the recipient is an APR-registered NGO. Ordinary individual donors generally have no personal-income-tax deduction, a point to confirm with the Tax Administration.
Where in Serbia are its NGOs based?
The City of Belgrade holds nearly three-quarters of the Serbian associations GiveRadar can place on a map, reflecting its role as the country's civil-society hub. The Vojvodina district of South Bačka, and the Nišava district, follow.
GiveRadar places about 54% of the register on a district map, from the seat city each association records. Serbia is an EU candidate, and the European Commission has reported increasing pressure on civil-society organisations, so the sector is both large and closely watched.
How do you check a Serbian NGO before you donate?
Search the association or foundation in the Serbian Business Registers Agency's public register. A recognisable name is not a substitute for confirming its registration and status.
- Look the organisation up in the APR association search, matching its registration number, purposes and representative.
- Check tax standing separately with the Tax Administration.
- Read the organisation's own reports where it publishes them.
- See GiveRadar's integrity score methodology for what each data point proves.