Vasilije Kostić, president of the Montenegrin Employers’ Association (CUP) and economic analyst, stated that Montenegro requires significantly higher economic growth rates to catch up with Western Europe.
Last year, Montenegro’s GDP grew by 3.2%, the lowest rate since 2016 (excluding the pandemic year of 2020) and a sharp decline from 6.3% in 2023. While the rate is above the EU average of 1–2%, Kostić emphasized that the drop represents a serious slowdown and may continue this year.
He noted that previous growth was artificially stimulated by programs like “Europe Now” and rising personal consumption, rather than productivity increases, leading to long-term economic vulnerabilities such as high inflation, declining living standards, and increased imports.
Kostić stressed that sustainable growth must be based on productivity increases to improve citizens’ prosperity. He argued that a 6% growth rate could double Montenegro’s GDP in 12 years, compared to 22.5 years at the current 3.2% rate, highlighting the need for responsible economic policies.
To achieve higher growth, Kostić recommended building a functional society, a long-term development strategy with regional alignment, clear industrial policies, investments in infrastructure, education, health, research, startups, and innovation, as well as stronger cooperation between educational, research, and government institutions, and public administration reform.
