New Classification of Business Activities in Serbia (KD 2025)
05.10.2026.
New Classification of Business Activities in Serbia (KD 2025)
As of 1 January 2027, business entities in Serbia will be classified under the new Classification of Business Activities – KD 2025. The Government has adopted a new Decree on the Classification of Business Activities, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 91/2026 on 23 September 2026.
The current classification has been in force since 2010 and was aligned with the European standard NACE Rev. 2. On 1 January 2025, the European Union switched to a new version, NACE Rev. 2.1, which better reflects the digital economy, platforms and intermediation services. KD 2025 is the Serbian version of that standard.
For most business entities, the transition will require no action on their part. However, in certain activities a single old code is split into several new ones, and in those cases it is necessary to check whether the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR) has assigned the appropriate code.
Key dates and deadlines
The Decree entered into force on 1 October 2026, and the new classification applies from 1 January 2027.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 23 Sep 2026 | Decree published in the Official Gazette of the RS No. 91/2026 |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Decree enters into force (on the eighth day after publication) |
| by 30 Nov 2026 | APR aligns the codes of all registered entities ex officio and free of charge (60-day deadline) |
| 1 Jan 2027 | KD 2025 starts to apply; the 2010 Decree ceases to be valid |
| by end of January 2027 | Deadline for a free-of-charge request to change the newly assigned code (30 days from the start of application) |
In the period between the re-registration and 1 January 2027, both the old and the new code of each entity will be publicly available on the APR website. Authorities maintaining special registers will align their data within the same 60-day period.
Official statistics will continue to use the old classification in parallel until 31 December 2030, but this does not affect the registration of business entities.
What does not change: legal continuity
A change of activity code does not affect the existence or operations of a business entity. The Decree expressly provides that the alignment of codes does not affect legal continuity, nor does it in itself affect the validity of contracts, permits, licences, approvals, certificates and other acts issued before 1 January 2027, unless otherwise provided by a special regulation.
This means that existing contracts, agency licences, categorisation decisions and similar permits remain in force and do not need to be amended because of the new code.
Main structural changes
KD 2025 keeps the logic of the old classification, but it is more detailed and has one additional section. Following the European model, the number of groups (four-digit codes) increases from 615 to 651.
- New section K. The current section J (Information and communication) is split into section J – publishing, broadcasting and content production, and the new section K – telecommunications, computer programming, consultancy, computing infrastructure and other information services.
- Section letters shift. Because of the new section K, all sections from the former K onwards move by one letter (e.g. financial activities become section L, and education section Q). Division codes (two-digit numbers) mostly remain the same.
- Division 45 is abolished. Trade in motor vehicles moves to divisions 46 and 47, while maintenance and repair of vehicles moves to division 95.
- Intermediation as a separate activity. Separate codes are introduced for intermediation services, i.e. platforms, in trade, transport, accommodation, food services, real estate and education.
This last change is particularly important for companies operating through digital platforms: an intermediary is no longer classified under the activity it intermediates, but under a separate intermediation code.
The final correspondence for each individual code should be checked in the correspondence table annexed to the Decree.
Practical recommendations
- After 30 November 2026, check on the APR website which new code you have been assigned.
- If your old code corresponded to several new ones and the assigned code does not reflect your actual activity, submit a free-of-charge change request by the end of January 2027.
- After that deadline, a change of code follows the regular procedure, through a registration application and subject to a fee.
- Update letterheads, your website, tender applications and internal documents in which you state your activity code.
- If you use tax incentives, subsidies or special regimes linked to your activity code, check with your accountant how the transition affects your status.
- From 1 January 2027, founders of new companies and entrepreneurs will choose their code exclusively from KD 2025.
Conclusion
The new classification is primarily a technical alignment with the European standard and will not require any action from most businesses. However, IT companies, hospitality businesses, vehicle dealers and repair shops, as well as entities operating through platforms, should check their assigned code by the end of January 2027, while a change is still free of charge.
