An estimated 1,442,000 ha (3,563,000 acres), or 25.8% of total land, was arable in 1998. About 9.1% of the economically active population was engaged in agriculture in 1999, when it accounted for about 9% of GDP.
The civil war reduced agricultural output in the years immediately following the breakup of the Yugoslav SFR. As stability returns, however, production of some crops show signs of recovery, as evidenced by the following summary of 1999 major crops harvested (in thousands of tons): wheat, 558; corn, 2,135; sugar beets, 1,114; grapes, 394; apples, 67; and plums, 38. Total production of cereals fell from 3,179,000 tons in 1997 to 2,883,000 in 1999. Plums are used in the production of slivovitz, a type of plum brandy.