The rise of non-smoking restaurants and cafes in Serbia

Serbia is known for its bad winter air quality, so this is a good time of year to see where you can find better air indoors. Serbia has no law against smoking inside restaurants or cafes. This is in contrast to most developed countries in the world. Despite the lack of such laws, cities in Serbia have seen a notable increase in non-smoking food and drink establishments in recent years.

Thanks to data on OpenStreetMaps, it is possible to view old map data and see how places have changed. This "time machine map" is available for anyone at this link. Looking at the changes in Belgrade (and even Novi Sad) from the 1-2 years, the progress is clear: the number of mapped non-smoking establishments approximately doubled in the past year. The area of Belgrade in the map below increased from 189 to 380 non-smoking cafes and restaurants between December 2024 and December 2025. While some of this growth is attributable to better maps, there is an undeniable growth in the number of establishments choosing to opt in to provide a non-smoking environment for customers. Shout out to Ima Bez Dima, an organisation helping to increase the non-smoking options in Serbia.