Net revenue on the Main Account of Montenegro’s Customs Administration rose to 1.4 billion euros in 2025, from 692.4 million euros in 2017, according to figures presented by the non-governmental organisation Akcija za socijalnu pravdu (ASP). The authority collected a total of 8.57 billion euros over the nine years, providing a record of the customs revenue streams collected during the period.
Revenue increased in most years, reaching 768.8 million euros in 2018, 808.5 million in 2019 and 661.3 million in 2020. It then climbed to 794.7 million euros in 2021, 991.3 million in 2022, 1.16 billion in 2023 and 1.28 billion in 2024. ASP described the increase over the period as “practically doubled” on an annual basis.
The 2020 figures were lower than in 2019 for total revenue and for collections from input VAT, fuel excise and customs duties. The year coincided with the COVID-19 period, ASP’s data show.
Input VAT leads revenue mix
Input VAT was the largest revenue source, accounting for between 63% and 70% of the Customs Administration’s net receipts, according to ASP. Collections rose from about 439.4 million euros in 2017 to 518.7 million in 2018 and 542.1 million in 2019, before falling to 431.2 million euros in 2020.
They recovered to 515.3 million euros in 2021 and increased to 702.6 million in 2022, 789.9 million in 2023 and 850.3 million in 2024. Input VAT generated 929 million euros in 2025, bringing the nine-year total to more than 5.7 billion euros, the ASP figures show.
Excise duties on various fuels brought in 147.2 million euros in 2017, 153.3 million in 2018 and 158.2 million in 2019. Revenue fell to 134.5 million euros in 2020, rose to 158.7 million in 2021, then dropped to 117.9 million in 2022 during the crisis that began with the war in Ukraine. The state intervened at the time by cutting excise duties, ASP said.
Fuel excise receipts subsequently reached 179 million euros in 2023, 198.3 million in 2024 and 209.4 million euros in 2025. Collections over the full nine-year period amounted to 1.45 billion euros.
Other duties and customs collections
Excise revenue from tobacco products rose from 57.2 million euros in 2017 to 60.4 million in 2021, after recording 40.6 million euros in 2018, 46.3 million in 2019 and 45.5 million in 2020. It increased to 92 million euros in 2022, 100.2 million in 2023 and 119.1 million in 2024, before reaching 139.5 million euros in 2025. The nine-year total was 701.3 million euros.
Customs duties generated 24.8 million euros in 2017 and 26 million in 2018, rising to 27.8 million in both 2019 and 2021. Collections dipped to 22.2 million euros in 2020, then grew to 39.5 million in 2022, 51.3 million in 2023 and 59.4 million in 2024. They reached 68.8 million euros in 2025, taking the nine-year total to 348.1 million euros.
Other duties rose from 23.6 million euros in 2017 to 29.9 million in 2018 and 33.9 million in 2019, before falling to 27.7 million in 2020. They then increased each year, reaching 32.3 million euros in 2021, 39.1 million in 2022, 47.5 million in 2023, 54.8 million in 2024 and more than 58 million in 2025. The category generated about 347.2 million euros over the period.
ASP’s monitoring study groups these other duties together. They include excise on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, coffee, carbonated water, sugar products, cocoa and ice cream, single-use plastic products, and coal used in production.
The study’s 2017-2025 figures were obtained officially from the Customs Administration under Montenegro’s Law on Free Access to Information and then processed by ASP. The legal basis for the authority’s collections is set out in Montenegro’s tax, excise and customs laws.
