Rakia, rakija, rakiya, or rachiu (/ˈrɑːkiə, ˈræ-, rəˈkiːə/), is the collective term for fruit spirits or fruit brandy popular in the Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50–80%).

Rakia is produced from fermented and distilled fruits, typically plums and grapes, but also apricots, pears, cherries or raspberries. Other fruits less commonly used are peaches, apples, figs, blackberries, and quince. Common flavours are šljivovica and țuică, produced from plums, kaysieva/kajsija, produced from apricots, or grozdova/lozova in Bulgaria, raki rrushi in Albania, lozovača/komovica in Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina all produced from grapes.

Plum and grape rakia are sometimes mixed with other ingredients, such as herbs, honey, sour cherries and walnuts, after distillation.

Raki (Albanian definite form: rakia) (a type of rakia) is a traditional drink in Albania. Until the 19th century, meyhanes would serve wine or meze.

Bulgaria cites an old piece of pottery from the 14th century in which the word rakiya (Bulgarian: ракия) is inscribed. The inscription on it reads: “I have celebrated with rakia.” The country has taken measures to declare the drink as a national drink in the European Union to allow lower excise duty domestically but has yet yielded no concrete results. During an archaeological study, Bulgarian archaeologists discovered an 11th-century fragment of a distillation vessel used for the production of rakiya. Due to the age of the fragment, contradicting the idea that rakiya production only began in the 16th century, historians believe this indicates that rakiya did originally come from Bulgaria. The EU recognizes 12 brands of Bulgarian rakiya through the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) marks, which protect the name of products from a specific region that follow a traditional production process.

Rakija is the most popular spirit in Croatia. Travarica (herbal rakija) is usually served at the beginning of the meal, together with dried figs. The Croatian Adriatic coast is known for a great variety of herbal rakija, some typical for only one island or group of islands. The island Hvar is famous for rakija with the addition of Myrtus (mrtina—bitter and dark brown). Southern islands, such as Korčula, and the city of Dubrovnik are famous for rakija with anise (aniseta), and in central Dalmatia the most popular rakija is rakija with walnuts (orahovica). It's usually homemade, and served with dry cookies or dried figs. In the summer, it's very typical to see huge glass jars of rakija with nuts steeping in the liquid on every balcony, because the process requires the exposure of orahovica to the sun. In the northern Adriatic—mainly Istria—rakija is typically made of honey (medica) or mistletoe (biska). Biska, which is yellow-brown and sweet, is a typical liquor of Istria. In the interior of the country a spirit called šljivovica (shlivovitza) is made from plums, and one called viljamovka (viliam-ovka) is made from Williams pears. Croatia has EU Protected Geographical Indication of 6 rakija products (Zadarski maraschino, Hrvatska travarica, Hrvatski pelinkovac, Hrvatska stara šljivovica, Slavonska šljivovica and Hrvatska loza).

In Greece, the most popular traditional Cretan spirit is known as tsikoudia (Greek: τσικουδιά). On the mainland, a similar spirit called tsipouro (Greek: τσίπουρο) is prevalent. Both tsikoudia and tsipouro are informally referred to as raki due to the Ottoman-era nomenclature when raki was a generic term describing distilled liquors, a term which informally remains in use today.

Cretan tsikoudia is a pomace brandy made by single distilling grapes after most of their juice has been extracted to produce wine and having left them to ferment in barrels. Special permits are given from late October until the end of November to produce tsikoudia at home in Cretan villages. Unlike tsipouro, tsikoudia is not twice distilled and does not contain anise. It is commonly served cold as an apéritif with seafood and meze, usually referred to as rakomezedes, or as a complimentary digestif with spoon sweets or fruit after a meal.^{[citation needed]}