International sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

During the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s and early 2000s, several rounds of international sanctions were imposed against the former Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro that formed a new country called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In the first round of sanctions, which were imposed in response to the Bosnian War and Croatian War, and lasted between April 1992 and October 1995, Yugoslavia was placed under a United Nations (UN) embargo. The embargo was lifted following the signing of the Dayton Agreement, which ended the conflict. During and after the Kosovo War of 1998–1999, Yugoslavia was again sanctioned by the UN, European Union (EU) and United States. Following the overthrow of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in October 2000, the sanctions against Yugoslavia started to be withdrawn, and most were lifted by 19 January 2001.

The sanctions had a major impact on the economy of Serbia and Montenegro and its society, with Serbia the hardest hit, its GDP dropping from $24 billion in 1990 to below $10 billion in 1993, and $8.66 billion in 2000. They also had a devastating impact on Yugoslav industry. Poverty was at its highest in 1993, with 39 percent of the population living on less than $2 per day. Poverty levels rose again when international sanctions were re-imposed in 1998. An estimated 300,000 people emigrated from Serbia in the 1990s, 20 percent of whom had a higher education.