Montenegro’s merchandise trade deficit reached approximately €2.3 billion in the first six months of 2026, as declining goods exports coincided with higher imports. Goods exports fell by 4.4% year on year, while imports rose by 3.4%. Export revenues covered just 12% of the import bill, further widening the imbalance between Montenegro’s goods exports and imports.
The deficit increased even as electricity imports dropped by around 60% compared with the previous year. Electricity purchases had been unusually high in 2025, following the prolonged outage and reconstruction of the Pljevlja thermal power plant. Food imports alone amounted to approximately €460 million during the six-month period. The figure reflects the limited contribution of domestic agriculture and food processing to meeting demand in a tourism-intensive economy, where population and consumption increase significantly during the summer season.
Montenegro offsets part of its merchandise trade deficit through tourism receipts, transport services, foreign investment and remittances. Tourism demand also generates substantial imports of food, beverages, equipment, vehicles and construction materials, limiting the share of tourism-related spending that remains within the domestic economy.
The large goods deficit also leaves Montenegro exposed to changes in international commodity, transport and fuel prices. Higher external costs can feed into domestic consumer prices more quickly when domestic producers have limited capacity to substitute imported goods. Despite the size of the deficit, the figures do not indicate an immediate external financing crisis, with Montenegro using the euro and continuing to receive inflows from tourism and real estate. The data show continued reliance on consumption, service exports, foreign capital and imports, alongside a merchandise-export sector that has not expanded at the same pace.
