Demographic history of Serbia explained

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 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 ("captaincy", after 1834 called srez). 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.^[1]

1850 census

• TOTAL = 956,893

Extracts in Glasnik DSS.^[2]

1854 census

• TOTAL = 998,919

Extracts in Glasnik DSS.^[3]

1859 census

• TOTAL = 1,078,281

Published in 1863.^[4]

1863 census

• TOTAL = 1,108,668^[5]

1866 census

• TOTAL = 1,216,219^[6]
• Serbs = 1,058,189 (87.01%)
• Romanians = 127,545 (10.49%)
• Roma ("Gypsies") = 24,607 (2.02%)
• Germans = 2,589 (0.21%)
• other = 3,256 (0.27%)

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

1874 census

Total:

1878 census

• TOTAL = 1,669,337^[7]

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

1884 census

Source:^[8]

Total = 1,901,336

• Serbs = 1,693,337 (89,04 %)
• Romanians = 149,727 (9,68 %)
• Roma = 34,066 (1,82 %)

1890 census

Total = 2,161,961

• Serbs = 1,955,944 (90,44 %)
• Romanians = 143,684 (6,64 %)
• Roma = 37,581 (1,74 %)

1895 census

• TOTAL = 2,493,770^[7]
• Serbs = over 2 million (ca. 90%)
• Romanians = 159,000 (6.43%)
• Roma ("Gypsies") = 46,000 (1.84%)

20th century

1905 census

Total:

1910 census

Total: 2,922,258

1921 census

• TOTAL = 4,133,478
• Serbs and Croats = 3,339,369 (80.87%)
• Albanians = 420,473 (10.17%)
• Romanians = 159,549 (3.86%)
• Turks = 149,210 (3.61%)
• 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 (mostly Romani) = 44,002

1948 census

• TOTAL = 6,527,966
• Serbs and Croats = 4,823,730 (73.89%)
• Albanians = 532,011 (8.15%)
• Hungarians = 433,701 (6.64%)
• Montenegrins = 74,860 (1.15%)
• Slovaks = 72,032 (1.1%)
• Bulgarians = 59,395
• Roma = 52,181
• Slovenes = 20,998
• Macedonians = 17,917
• ethnic Muslims = 17,315

1953 census

• TOTAL = 6,979,154
• Serbs = 5,152,939 (73.83%)
• Albanians = 565,513 (8.10%)
• Hungarians = 441,907 (6.33%)
• Croats = 173,246 (2.48%)
• Montenegrins = 86,061 (1.23%)
• ethnic Muslims = 81,081 (1.16%)
• Slovaks = 71,153 (1%)
• Bulgarians = 60,146
• Roma = 58,800
• Macedonians = 27,277
• Slovenes = 20,717

1961 census

• TOTAL = 7,642,227
• Serbs = 5,704,686 (74.65%)
• Albanians = 699,772 (9.16%)
• Hungarians = 449,587 (5.88%)
• Croats = 196,409 (2.57%)
• Montenegrins = 104,753 (1.37%)
• ethnic Muslims = 93,467 (1.22%)
• 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 (71.23%)
• Albanians = 984,761 (11.66%)
• Hungarians = 430,314 (5.10%)
• Croats = 184,913 (2.19%)
• ethnic Muslims = 154,330 (1.83%)
• Montenegrins = 125,260 (1.48%)
• Yugoslavs = 123,824 (1.47%)
• Slovaks = 76,733
• Romanians (self-declared) = 57,419
• Bulgarians = 53,536
• Roma = 49,894
• Macedonians = 42,675
• Rusyns = 20,608
• Turks = 18,220
• Slovenes = 15,957
• "Vlachs" (Romanians) = 14,724

1981 census

• TOTAL = 9,313,677
• Serbs = 6,182,159 (66.38%)
• Albanians = 1,303,032 (13.99%)
• Yugoslavs = 441,941 (4.75%)
• Hungarians = 390,468 (4.19%)
• ethnic Muslims = 215,166 (2.31%)
• Croats = 149,368 (1.60%)
• Montenegrins = 147,466 (1.58%)
• Roma = 110,956 (1.19%)
• Slovaks = 69,549
• Macedonians = 48,986
• Bulgarians = 33,294
• Slovenes = 12,006

1991 census

• TOTAL (official estimation) = 9,778,991 (registered 8,182,141)
• Serbs = 6,446,595 (65.92%)
• Albanians (official estimation) = 1,674,353 (17.12%), registered 87,372
• Hungarians = 343,800 (3.52%)
• Yugoslavs = 323,643 (3.31%)
• ethnic Muslims (official estimation) = 246,411 (2.52%), registered 237,980
• Roma (official estimation) = 140,237 (1.43%), registered 138,799
• Montenegrins = 139,299 (1.42%)
• Croats = 105,406 (1.08%)

Estimated population:

Registered population:

1991 census

• TOTAL = 7,822,795
• Serbs = 6,252,405 (79.93%)
• Hungarians = 343,800 (4.39%)
• Yugoslavs = 320,186 (4.09%)
• ethnic Muslims = 180,222 (2.3%)
• Montenegrins = 118,934 (1.52%)
• Croats = 97,344 (1.24%)
• Roma = 94,491 (1.21%)
• Albanians = 78,281 (1%)
• Slovaks = 66,772 (0.85%)
• Macedonians = 45,068 (0.58%)
• Romanians (self-declared) = 42,316 (0.54%)
• Bulgarians = 26,698 (0.34%)
• Bunjevci = 21,434 (0.34%)
• Ukrainians = 5,042 (0.23%)
• "Vlachs" (Romanians) = 17,804 (0.23%)
• others = 34,698 (0.44%)
• regional affiliation = 4,841 (0.06%)
• unknown = 47,949 (0.61%)
• unspecified = 10,538 (0.13%)

21st century

2002 census

• TOTAL = 7,498,001
• Serbs = 6,212,838 (82.86%)
• Hungarians = 293,299 (3.91%)
• Bosniaks = 136,087 (1.82%)
• Roma = 108,193 (1.44%)
• Yugoslavs = 80,721 (1.08%)
• Croats = 70,602 (0.94%)
• Montenegrins = 69,049 (0.92%)
• Albanians = 61,647 (0.82%)
• Slovaks = 59,021 (0.79%)
• "Vlachs" (Romanians) = 40,054 (0.53%)
• Romanians (self-declared) = 34,576 (0.46%)
• Macedonians = 25,847 (0.35%)
• Bulgarians = 20,497 (0.27%)
• Bunjevci = 20,012 (0.27%)
• ethnic Muslims = 19,503 (0.26%)
• Rusyns = 15,905 (0.21%)
• Ukrainians = 5,354 (0.07%)
• Slovenes = 5,104
• Gorani = 4,581
• Germans = 3,901
• Czechs = 2,211
• others = 11,711 (0.19%)
• regional affiliation = 11,485 (0.15%)
• unknown = 75,483 (1.01%)
• unspecified = 107,732 (1.44%)

2011 census

• TOTAL = 7,186,862
• Serbs = 5,988,150 (83.32%)
• Hungarians = 253,899 (3.53%)
• Roma = 147,604 (2.05%)
• Bosniaks = 145,278 (2.02%)
• Croats = 57,900 (0.81%)
• Slovaks = 52,750 (0.73%)
• Albanians = 5,809 (0.08%) (mostly boycotted the census, estimate c. 50,000 i.e. 0.7%)
• Montenegrins = 38,527 (0.54%)
• "Vlachs" (Romanians) = 35,330 (0.49%)
• Romanians (self-declared) = 29,332 (0.41%)
• Yugoslavs = 23,303 (0.32%)
• Macedonians = 22,755 (0.32%)
• ethnic Muslims = 22,301 (0.31%)
• Bulgarians = 18,543 (0.26%)
• Bunjevci = 16,706 (0.23%)
• Rusyns = 14,246 (0.2%)
• Gorani = 7,767 (0.11%)
• Ukrainians = 4,903 (0.07%)
• Germans = 4,064 (0.06%)
• Slovenes = 4,033 (0.06%)
• others = 17,558 (0.24%)
• regional affiliation = 30,771 (0.43%)
• unknown = 81,740 (1.14%)
• unspecified = 160,346 (2.23%)

2022 census

• TOTAL = 6,647,003^[9]
• Serbs = 5,360,239 (80.64%)
• Hungarians = 184,442 (2.77%)
• Bosniaks = 153,801 (2.31%)
• Roma = 131,936 (1.98%)
• Albanians = 61,687 (0.93%)
• Slovaks = 41,730 (0.63%)
• Croats = 39,107 (0.59%)
• Yugoslavs = 27,143 (0.41%)
• Romanians (self-declared) = 23,044 (0.35%)
• "Vlachs" (Romanians) = 21,013 (0.32%)
• Montenegrins = 20,238 (0.30%)
• Macedonians = 14,767 (0.22%)
• ethnic Muslims = 13,011 (0.20%)
• Bulgarians = 12,918 (0.19%)
• Rusyns = 11,483 (0.17%)
• Bunjevci = 11,104 (0.17%)
• Russians = 10,486 (0.16%)
• Gorani = 7,700 (0.12%)
• Ukrainians = 3,969 (0.06%)
• Slovenes = 2,829 (0.04%)
• Germans = 2,573 (0.04%)
• unknown = 322,013 (4.84%)
• Did not declare = 136,198 (2.05%)
• regional affiliation = 11,929 (0.18%)
• others = 4,126 (0.06%)

Vital statistics

1880–1887

• Source:^[10]

	Average population (x 1,000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Total fertility rate
1880	1,738	70,167	54,243	15,924	40.8	31.2	9.6	5.45
1881	1,775	80,678	43,645	37,033	46.0	24.6	21.4	5.45
1882	1,814	80,274	41,648	38,626	44.8	23.0	21.8	5.44
1883	1,859	87,161	42,263	44,898	47.5	22.7	24.8	5.44
1884	1,902	90,441	47,552	42,889	48.1	25.0	23.1	5.43
1885	1,940	90,627	52,318	38,309	47.4	27.0	20.4	5.43
1886	1,965	83,091	58,525	24,566	43.0	29.7	13.3	5.42
1887	2,008	93,911	50,481	43,430	47.5	25.1	22.4	5.42

1900–1912

• Source:^[11]

	Average population (x 1,000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Total fertility rate
1900	2,470	105,000	58,000	47,000	42.4	23.5	18.9	5.68
1901	2,520	96,000	53,000	43,000	38.0	21.0	17.0	5.54
1902	2,570	98,000	57,000	41,000	38.0	22.3	15.7	5.41
1903	2,580	106,000	60,000	46,000	40.9	23.5	17.4	5.13
1904	2,650	106,000	56,000	50,000	39.8	21.1	18.7	5.00
1905	2,660	100,000	65,000	35,000	37.3	24.8	12.5	5.04
1906	2,690	113,000	66,000	47,000	42.0	24.5	17.5	5.09
1907	2,770	111,000	62,000	49,000	40.0	22.4	17.6	5.13
1908	2,820	104,000	67,000	37,000	36.8	23.7	13.1	5.18
1909	2,840	110,000	83,000	27,000	38.7	29.3	9.4	5.23
1910	2,870	112,000	64,000	48,000	39.0	22.4	16.6	5.18
1911	2,940	107,000	64,000	43,000	36.3	21.8	14.5	5.14
1912	2,980	114,000	63,000	51,000	38.3	21.1	17.1	5.10

See also

• Demographic history of Vojvodina
  • Demographic history of Kosovo Demographic history of Montenegro
• Demographics of Serbia

Sources

• Pavlović. Mirjana. Prelić. Mladena. The state, statistics, minorities and power: Ethnic "others" in the Duchy and Kingdom of Serbia as viewed through the lens of national census. Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU. 2015. 63. 1. 147–165. 10.2298/GEI1501147P. free. 21.15107/rcub_dais_7988. free.
• Barjaktarović. Mirko. 1970. O etničkom opredeljenju. Zečević, Slobodan. Гласник Етнографског музеја у Београду. 33. Etnografski muzej u Beogradu. 69–92. GGKEY:PXCNL8YTPDP.
• Stojković. Dragana. UTICAJ MIGRACIJA NA NACIONALNU STRUKTURU STANOVNIŠTVA SRBIJE. Etnološke Sveske. 11. 1990. 33–42.
• Ђорђевић, Тихомир. "Насељавање Србије, за време прве владе кнеза Милоша Обреновића (1815-1839)." Гласник Српског географског друштва 5 (1921): 116–139.
• Book: Jireček, Konstantin . Istorija Srba . 1891 . Serbian.

External links

• Serbian Census website
• Central Statistics Office website
• The census form

Notes and References

1. Jovan Gavrilović, “Prilog za geografiju i statistiku Srbije. Glavni izvod popisa Srbije u godini 1846”, Glasnik DSS III (1851), pp.186–190.
2. Jovan Gavrilović, “Prilog za geografiju i statistiku Srbije. Glavni izvod popisa Srbije u godini 1850”, Glasnik DSS IV (1852), pp. 227–248
3. Jovan Gavrilović, “Glavni izvod popisa u Srbiji godine 1854/55”, Glasnik DSS IX (1857), pp. 224–226.
4. „Izvestije podnešeno g. Ministru Finansije o čislu žitelja Srbije u godini 1859“, Državopis Srbije I (1863), pp.86–97.
5. Halpern, J., 1972. Town and countryside in Serbia in the nineteenth-century, social and household structure as reflected in the census of 1863.
6. Book: Serbien. Geographisches_Handbuch_zu_Andrees_Handatlas. 1882.
7. Book: Serbien. Geographisches_Handbuch_zu_Andrees_Handatlas. 1902.
8. Web site: Kingdom of Serbia Census 1884 . 21 April 2023 . Republic of Serbia Statistical Office.
9. Web site: ПОПИС 2022 - еxcел табеле | О ПОПИСУ СТАНОВНИШТВА .
10. Web site: Archived copy . 2014-09-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140904220055/http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G1893/Pdf/G189311001.pdf . 2014-09-04 .
11. B.R. Mitchell. European historical statistics. 1750-1975.