4 May 2020 

Hundreds of thousands of workers in Balkan countries have lost their jobs due to economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, official statistical data show. And many fear the real numbers of job losses could be considerably higher, as not all countries in the region have compiled comprehensive records.

While EU member countries in the region like Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia report massive layoffs or temporary losses of work, in other countries, like Serbia, North Macedonia or Montenegro, relatively smaller official numbers of job losses are highly contested, owing to the incomplete methodology they use.