Serbia saw a record number of foreign nationals identified as victims of human trafficking in 2025, according to the annual report of the Center for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking.
Last year, 23 foreign nationals were formally identified as victims, marking the first time since the Center’s establishment in 2012 that foreigners made up the largest share of reported cases.
“Since the Center was founded, this is the first year where the majority of reports involve foreign nationals, resulting in the highest number of identified foreign victims in our institution’s history,” the report states.
The report notes that labor exploitation accounted for the majority of foreign victim cases (114 reports), followed by sexual exploitation (53 reports). Nationals identified included individuals from Zimbabwe, India, China, the Philippines, Kenya, Bangladesh, Belarus, and Uzbekistan.
In total, 74 victims of human trafficking were identified in Serbia in 2025, continuing a five-year trend of rising formal identifications. The majority of victims remain Serbian nationals, and 69% of all identified victims were women, highlighting the gendered nature of human trafficking.
The report also references a landmark 2024 court case involving Chinese nationals. Two Chinese women were allegedly lured to Serbia with false job offers by another Chinese citizen and forced into sexual exploitation in the city of Bor.
U.S. State Department reports have highlighted Chinese women being trafficked in Serbia, often targeting workers on China-funded projects, including copper mines. Since 2018, China’s Zijin Mining has been the majority owner of the RTB Bor copper and gold mining complex in eastern Serbia, employing both Serbian and Chinese workers.
