Demographic history of Serbia

This article presents the demographic history of Serbia through census results. See Demographics of Serbia for a more detailed overview of the current demographics from 2011 census.

Censuses

Censuses in Serbia ordinarily takes place every 10 years, organized by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. The last census was in 2011. The censuses were organized in 2011, 2002, 1991, 1981, 1971, 1961, 1953 and 1948, during Communist Yugoslavia. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, censuses were conducted in 1931 and 1921; the census in 1941 was never conducted due to the outbreak of WWII.
The independent Principality of Serbia, had conducted the first population census in 1834; the subsequent censuses were conducted in 1841, 1843, 1846, 1850, 1854, 1859, 1863 and 1866 and 1874. During the era Kingdom of Serbia, six censuses were conducted in 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1905 and the last one being in 1910.

19th century

The censuses of 1846, 1850 and 1854 were partially published in Glasnik DSS. The Statistical Office was established in 1862. Since 1863, the Office published Državopis Srbije in twenty volumes, until 1894. Statistical data continued to be published in the new edition of Statistika Kraljevine Srbije, published since 1892. Little is known in historiography about the censuses through 1859.

1834 census

TOTAL = 678,192

Serbia was divided into 15 counties with 61 districts called kapetanija. Užice was not included due to unrest.

1841 census

TOTAL = 828,895
1843 census
TOTAL = 859,545
1846 census
TOTAL = 915,080

Extracts in Glasnik DSS.

1850 census

TOTAL = 956,893

Extracts in Glasnik DSS.

1854 census

TOTAL = 998,919

Extracts in Glasnik DSS.

1859 census

TOTAL = 1,078,281

Published in 1863.

1863 census

TOTAL = 1,108,668
1866 census
TOTAL = 1,216,219
Serbs = 1,058,189
Romanians = 127,545
Roma = 24,607
Germans = 2,589
other = 3,256

This was the first census which recorded literacy, nationality and citizenship.

1874 census

;Total:

1878 census

TOTAL = 1,669,337

In 1879 there was a census in the four counties ceded to Serbia in 1878.

1884 census

;Total:

1890 census

;Total:

1895 census

TOTAL = 2,493,770
Serbs = over 2 million
Romanians = 159,000
Roma = 46,000
20th century

1905 census

;Total:

1910 census

;Total: 2,922,258

1921 census

TOTAL = 4,133,478
Serbs and Croats = 3,339,369
Albanians = 420,473
Vlachs = 159,549
Turks = 149,210
Germans = 5,969
Russians = 4,176
Slovenes = 3,625
Czechs and Slovaks = 2,801
Hungarians = 2,532
French = 717
Italians = 503
Poles = 286
English = 231
Ruthenians = 35
other = 44,002
1948 census
TOTAL = 6,527,966
Serbs and Croats = 4,823,730
Albanians = 532,011
Hungarians = 433,701
Montenegrins = 74,860
Slovaks = 72,032
Bulgarians = 59,395
Roma = 52,181
Slovenes = 20,998
Macedonians = 17,917
Muslims by nationality = 17,315
1953 census
TOTAL = 6,979,154
Serbs = 5,152,939
Albanians = 565,513
Hungarians = 441,907
Croats = 173,246
Montenegrins = 86,061
Muslims by nationality = 81,081
Slovaks = 71,153
Bulgarians = 60,146
Roma = 58,800
Macedonians = 27,277
Slovenes = 20,717
1961 census
TOTAL = 7,642,227
Serbs = 5,704,686
Albanians = 699,772
Hungarians = 449,587
Croats = 196,409
Montenegrins = 104,753
Muslims by nationality = 93,467
Slovaks = 73,830
Bulgarians = 58,243
Macedonians = 36,288
Yugoslavs = 20,079
Slovenes = 19,957
Roma = 9,826
1971 census
TOTAL = 8,446,591
Serbs = 6,016,811
Albanians = 984,761
Hungarians = 430,314
Croats = 184,913
Muslims by nationality = 154,330
Montenegrins = 125,260
Yugoslavs = 123,824
Slovaks = 76,733
Romanians = 57,419
Bulgarians = 53,536
Roma = 49,894
Macedonians = 42,675
Rusyns = 20,608
Turks = 18,220
Slovenes = 15,957
Vlachs = 14,724
1981 census
TOTAL = 9,313,677
Serbs = 6,182,159
Albanians = 1,303,032
Yugoslavs = 441,941
Hungarians = 390,468
Muslims by nationality = 215,166
Croats = 149,368
Montenegrins = 147,466
Roma = 110,956
Slovaks = 69,549
Macedonians = 48,986
Bulgarians = 33,294
Slovenes = 12,006
1991 census
TOTAL = 9,778,991
Serbs = 6,446,595
Albanians = 1,674,353, registered 87,372
Hungarians = 343,800
Yugoslavs = 323,643
Muslims by nationality = 246,411, registered 237,980
Roma = 140,237, registered 138,799
Montenegrins = 139,299
Croats = 105,406

Estimated population:
Registered population:

1991 census

TOTAL = 7,822,795
Serbs = 6,252,405
Hungarians = 343,800
Yugoslavs = 320,186
Muslims by nationality = 180,222
Montenegrins = 118,934
Croats = 97,344
Roma = 94,491
Albanians = 78,281
Slovaks = 66,772
Macedonians = 45,068
Romanians = 42,316
Bulgarians = 26,698
Bunjevci = 21,434
Ukrainians = 5,042
Vlachs = 17,804
others = 34,698
regional affiliation = 4,841
unknown = 47,949
unspecified = 10,538
21st century

2002 census

TOTAL = 7,498,001
Serbs = 6,212,838
Hungarians = 293,299
Bosniaks = 136,087
Roma = 108,193
Yugoslavs = 80,721
Croats = 70,602
Montenegrins = 69,049
Albanians = 61,647
Slovaks = 59,021
Vlachs = 40,054
Romanians = 34,576
Macedonians = 25,847
Bulgarians = 20,497
Bunjevci = 20,012
Muslims = 19,503
Rusyns = 15,905
Ukrainians = 5,354
Slovenes = 5,104
Gorani = 4,581
Germans = 3,901
Czechs = 2,211
others = 11,711
regional affiliation = 11,485
unknown = 75,483
unspecified = 107,732
2011 census
TOTAL = 7,186,862
Serbs = 5,988,150
Hungarians = 253,899
Roma = 147,604
Bosniaks = 145,278
Croats = 57,900
Slovaks = 52,750
Albanians = 5,809
Montenegrins = 38,527
Vlachs = 35,330
Romanians = 29,332
Yugoslavs = 23,303
Macedonians = 22,755
Muslims = 22,301
Bulgarians = 18,543
Bunjevci = 16,706
Rusyns = 14,246
Gorani = 7,767
Ukrainians = 4,903
Germans = 4,064
Slovenes = 4,033
others = 17,558
regional affiliation = 30,771
unknown = 81,740
unspecified = 160,346
Vital statistics

1880–1887

Source:

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change
1880	1,738	70,167	54,243	15,924	40.4	31.2	9.2
1881	1,775	80,678	43,645	37,033	45.4	24.6	20.8
1882	1,814	80,274	41,648	38,626	44.3	23.0	21.3
1883	1,859	87,161	42,263	44,898	46.7	22.7	24.0
1884	1,902	90,441	47,552	42,889	47.6	25.0	22.6
1885	1,940	90,627	52,318	38,309	46.7	27.0	19.7
1886	1,965	83,091	58,525	24,566	42.3	29.7	12.6
1887	2,008	93,911	50,481	43,430	46.8	25.1	21.7

1900–1912

Source:

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change
1900	2,470	105,000	58,000	47,000	42.4	23.5	18.9
1901	2,520	96,000	53,000	43,000	38.0	21.0	17.0
1902	2,570	98,000	57,000	41,000	38.0	22.3	15.7
1903	2,580	106,000	60,000	46,000	40.9	23.5	17.4
1904	2,650	106,000	56,000	50,000	39.8	21.1	18.7
1905	2,660	100,000	65,000	35,000	37.3	24.8	12.5
1906	2,690	113,000	66,000	47,000	42.0	24.5	17.5
1907	2,770	111,000	62,000	49,000	40.0	22.4	17.6
1908	2,820	104,000	67,000	37,000	36.8	23.7	13.1
1909	2,840	110,000	83,000	27,000	38.7	29.3	9.4
1910	2,870	112,000	64,000	48,000	39.0	22.4	16.6
1911	2,940	107,000	64,000	43,000	36.3	21.8	14.5
1912	2,980	114,000	63,000	51,000	38.3	21.1	17.1

1950–2019

Data for Serbia excluding Kosovo.

Source:

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change	Total fertility rate	Female fertile population
1950	5,969,977	163,297	76,851	86,446	27.4	12.9	14.5	3.11	1,667,489
1951	6,045,982	145,197	80,034	65,163	24.0	13.2	10.8	2.70	1,679,515
1952	6,106,976	161,306	67,870	93,436	26.4	11.1	15.3	2.94	1,691,530
1953	6,186,015	151,672	68,168	83,504	24.5	11.0	13.5	2.69	1,703,548
1954	6,271,014	152,569	62,610	89,959	24.3	10.0	14.3	2.66	1,714,614
1955	6,369,436	140,396	65,179	75,217	22.0	10.2	11.8	2.42	1,725,685
1956	6,422,999	132,078	67,105	64,973	20.6	10.4	10.1	2.26	1,736,751
1957	6,481,984	118,535	61,885	56,650	18.3	9.5	8.7	2.03	1,739,485
1958	6,535,020	118,425	55,564	62,861	18.1	8.5	9.6	2.05	1,742,115
1959	6,587,014	114,872	60,850	54,022	17.4	9.2	8.2	2.02	1,739,287
1960	6,638,992	119,298	61,872	57,426	18.0	9.3	8.6	2.12	1,733,296
1961	6,689,077	115,222	57,990	57,232	17.2	8.7	8.6	2.08	1,727,303
1962	6,740,264	110,008	62,830	47,178	16.3	9.3	7.0	2.03	1,735,235
1963	6,787,950	108,324	57,778	50,546	16.0	8.5	7.4	2.02	1,750,899
1964	6,832,855	103,847	62,100	41,747	15.2	9.1	6.1	1.96	1,769,796
1965	6,876,624	106,699	58,856	47,843	15.5	8.6	7.0	2.02	1,807,362
1966	6,927,969	103,775	55,471	48,304	15.0	8.0	7.0	1.98	1,843,693
1967	6,966,522	103,491	62,915	40,576	14.9	9.0	5.8	1.96	1,887,344
1968	7,007,586	103,621	60,932	42,689	14.8	8.7	6.1	1.95	1,945,878
1969	7,123,249	105,478	68,152	37,326	14.8	9.6	5.2	1.93	1,972,004
1970	7,164,993	102,453	67,211	35,242	14.3	9.4	4.9	1.81	2,012,702
1971	7,211,716	104,070	65,872	38,198	14.4	9.1	5.3	1.83	2,020,324
1972	7,267,030	106,859	70,822	36,037	14.7	9.7	5.0	1.83	2,019,717
1973	7,322,344	108,361	67,152	41,209	14.8	9.2	5.6	1.84	2,036,056
1974	7,377,659	110,458	66,457	44,001	15.0	9.0	6.0	1.86	2,020,513
1975	7,432,973	112,945	69,590	43,355	15.2	9.4	5.8	1.88	2,010,021
1976	7,488,287	114,035	68,565	45,470	15.2	9.2	6.1	1.89	2,002,713
1977	7,543,601	111,510	68,924	42,586	14.8	9.1	5.6	1.86	1,994,191
1978	7,598,916	110,622	71,986	38,636	14.6	9.5	5.1	1.86	1,974,022
1979	7,654,230	109,953	72,306	37,647	14.4	9.4	4.9	1.87	1,986,006
1980	7,709,544	109,597	76,180	33,417	14.2	9.9	4.3	1.86	1,997,988
1981	7,736,787	103,407	78,086	25,321	13.4	10.1	3.3	1.76	1,977,061
1982	7,763,335	106,575	78,473	28,102	13.7	10.1	3.6	1.84	1,947,609
1983	7,788,100	108,003	83,506	24,497	13.9	10.7	3.1	1.89	1,914,434
1984	7,813,549	107,036	82,742	24,294	13.7	10.6	3.1	1.90	1,921,422
1985	7,835,902	101,938	81,836	20,102	13.0	10.4	2.6	1.84	1,920,627
1986	7,853,824	99,419	83,977	15,442	12.7	10.7	2.0	1.82	1,911,361
1987	7,868,027	98,279	83,426	14,853	12.5	10.6	1.9	1.82	1,919,612
1988	7,884,218	97,471	83,616	13,855	12.4	10.6	1.8	1.82	1,899,146
1989	7,893,787	91,270	85,256	6,014	11.6	10.8	0.8	1.72	1,895,541
1990	7,897,937	90,467	85,515	4,952	11.5	10.8	0.6	1.72	1,899,883
1991	7,824,589	90,378	89,072	1,306	11.6	11.4	0.2	1.82	1,813,520
1992	7,787,897	86,877	93,475	-6,598	11.2	12.0	-0.8	1.76	1,821,688
1993	7,751,205	87,931	95,121	-7,190	11.3	12.3	-0.9	1.78	1,833,456
1994	7,714,513	85,292	93,011	-7,719	11.1	12.1	-1.0	1.72	1,846,610
1995	7,677,821	86,236	93,933	-7,697	11.2	12.2	-1.0	1.74	1,860,970
1996	7,641,129	82,548	98,370	-15,822	10.8	12.9	-2.1	1.66	1,868,882
1997	7,604,437	79,716	98,068	-18,352	10.5	12.9	-2.4	1.61	1,864,628
1998	7,567,745	76,330	99,376	-23,046	10.1	13.1	-3.0	1.54	1,855,228
1999	7,540,401	72,222	101,444	-29,222	9.6	13.5	-3.9	1.46	1,844,875
2000	7,516,346	73,764	104,042	-30,278	9.8	13.8	-4.0	1.48	1,831,994
2001	7,503,433	78,435	99,008	-20,573	10.5	13.2	-2.7	1.58	1,821,493
2002	7,500,031	78,101	102,785	-24,684	10.4	13.7	-3.3	1.57	1,810,526
2003	7,480,591	79,025	103,946	-24,921	10.6	13.9	-3.3	1.59	1,789,668
2004	7,463,157	78,186	104,320	-26,134	10.5	14.0	-3.5	1.57	1,770,053
2005	7,440,769	72,180	106,771	-34,591	9.7	14.3	-4.6	1.45	1,750,845
2006	7,411,569	70,997	102,884	-31,887	9.6	13.9	-4.3	1.43	1,733,316
2007	7,381,579	68,102	102,805	-34,703	9.2	13.9	-4.7	1.38	1,718,428
2008	7,350,222	69,083	102,711	-33,628	9.4	14.0	-4.6	1.41	1,704,735
2009	7,320,807	70,299	104,000	-33,701	9.6	14.2	-4.6	1.44	1,691,363
2010	7,291,436	68,304	103,211	-34,907	9.4	14.2	-4.8	1.41	1,677,562
2011	7,236,519	65,598	102,935	-37,337	9.1	14.2	-5.2	1.40	1,632,708
2012	7,201,497	67,257	102,400	-35,143	9.3	14.2	-4.9	1.45	1,615,898
2013	7,166,552	65,554	100,300	-34,746	9.1	14.0	-4.8	1.43	1,599,129
2014	7,131,787	66,461	101,247	-34,786	9.3	14.2	-4.9	1.47	1,582,643
2015	7,095,383	65,657	103,678	-38,021	9.3	14.6	-5.4	1.46	1,566,064
2016	7,058,322	64,734	100,834	-36,100	9.2	14.3	-5.1	1.46	1,550,651
2017	7,020,858	64,894	103,722	-38,828	9.2	14.8	-5.5	1.48	1,537,044
2018	6,982,604	63,975	101,655	-37,680	9.2	14.6	-5.4	1.48	1,523,675
2019		63,723	102,131	-38,408
	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change	Total fertility rate	Female fertile population
Total 1950-2018		6,760,974	5,681,634	1,079,340	934.3	785.1	149.1
Average 1950-2018	7,236,775	97,985	82,343	15,643	13.5	11.4	2.2	1.86	1,813,209

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Demographic history of Serbia

Censuses

19th century

1834 census

1841 census

1843 census

1846 census

1850 census

1854 census

1859 census

1863 census

1866 census

1874 census

1878 census

1884 census

1890 census

1895 census

20th century

1905 census

1910 census

1921 census

1948 census

1953 census

1961 census

1971 census

1981 census

1991 census

1991 census

21st century

2002 census

2011 census

Vital statistics

1880–1887

1900–1912

1950–2019