# Serb diaspora

Serb diaspora (Serbian: Српска дијаспора/Srpska dijaspora) refers to the diaspora communities of ethnic Serbs. It is not to be confused with the Serbian diaspora, which refers to migrants, regardless of ethnicity, from Serbia. Due to generalization in censuses outside former Yugoslavia to exclude ethnicity, the total number of the Serb diaspora population cannot be known by certainty. It is estimated that 2–3 million Serbs live outside former Yugoslavia.

## Migrational waves

There were several waves of Serb emigration:
* First wave took place since the end of 19th century and lasted until World War II and was caused by economic reasons; particularly large numbers of Serbs (mainly from peripheral ethnic areas such as Herzegovina, Montenegro, Dalmatia, and Lika) emigrated to the United States.
* Second wave took place after the end of the World War II. At this time, members of royalist Chetniks and other political opponents of communist regime fled the country mainly going overseas (United States and Australia) and, to a lesser degree, United Kingdom.
* Third, and by far the largest wave, was economic emigration started in the 1960s when several Western European countries signed bilateral agreements with Yugoslavia allowing the recruitment of industrial workers to those countries, and lasted until the end of the 1980s. Main destinations were West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and to a lesser extent France and Sweden. That generation of diaspora is collectively known as gastarbajteri, after German gastarbeiter, "guest-worker", since most of the emigrants headed for German-speaking countries.
* Most recent emigration took place during the 1990s, and was caused by both political and economic reasons. The Yugoslav wars caused many Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to leave their countries in the first half of the 1990s. The international economic sanctions imposed on Serbia caused economic collapse with an estimated 300,000 people leaving Serbia during that period, 20% of which had a higher education.

## Serb diaspora by states

List of countries and territories by ethnic Serb population :
| Country | Estimation | Official data | Notes |
| Germany | 500,000 (2014 government est.); older estimations: 1,000,000 (2009, 2012); 1,000,000 (January 2012) | 209,825 (Serbian nationals, 2023) | See also Serbs in Germany. |
| Austria | 500,000 (2008, 2010, January 2012) | 121,916 (Serbian nationals, 2023); 144,276 (Serbian-born, 2023) | See also Serbs in Austria. |
| United States | 1,000,000 (January 2012) | 189,671 (2013) | See also Serbs in the United States. |
| Switzerland | 150,000 (2000); 200,000 (January 2012) | 61,933 (Serbian nationals, 2021); 67,206 (Serbian-born, 2021) | See also Serbs in Switzerland. |
| Sweden | 110,000 (2011, January 2012); 120,000 (2015); and 140,000 (2011). | 11,860 (Serbian nationals, 2023); 17,567 (Serbian-born, 2023) | See also Serbs in Sweden. |
| Canada | 100,000–125,000 (2008); 250,000 (January 2012) | 80,320 (2011) | See also Serbs in Canada. |
| France | 62,740 (2018) | 62,779 (Serbian nationals, 2018); 85,647 (Serbian-born, 2018) | See also Serbs in France. |
| United Kingdom | 70,000 (2001, Serbian Embassy); 80,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in the United Kingdom. |
| Italy | 70,000 (January 2012) | 30,835 (Serbian nationals, 2023); 40,868 (Serbian-born, 2018) | See also Serbs in Italy. |
| Australia | 130,000 (January 2012) | 104,549 (2016) | See also Serbs in Australia. |
| Benelux | 50,000 (January 2012) | 5,395 (Serbian nationals in Belgium, 2023); 3,329 (Serbian nationals in the Netherlands, 2023); 1,814 (Serbian nationals in Luxembourg, 2023) 11,613 (Serbian-born residents of the Netherlands, 2023); 2,560 (Serbian-born residents of Luxembourg, 2023) | See also Serbs in Luxembourg. |
| Argentina | 7,000 (January 2012); 30,000 (ancestry) | N/A | See also Serbs in South America |
| South Africa | 20,000 (2012); 25,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in South Africa |
| Romania | 23,000 (January 2012) | 18,076 (2011) | See also Serbs in Romania. |
| Greece | 15,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in Greece. |
| Hungary | 10,000 (January 2012) | 7,210 (2011) | See also Serbs in Hungary. |
| Finland | 4,000 (2004) | 8,737 (Born in Serbia, 2018) | |
| Spain | 7,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in Spain. |
| Russia | 60,000 (January 2012) | 3,510 (2015) | See also Serbs in Russia. |
| New Zealand | 7,000 (January 2012) | 1,059 (2013) | See also Serbs in New Zealand. |
| Chile | 7,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in South America. |
| Brazil | 6,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in South America. |
| Slovakia | 3,600 (2014) | N/A | See also Serbs in Slovakia |
| Venezuela | 2,000 (January 2012) | N/A | See also Serbs in South America. |
| Portugal | 1,000 (2013MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 274 (2021, foreigners only; for instance excludes 234 Luso-Serbs naturalised since 2008) | See also Serbs in Portugal. |
| Mexico | 1,000 (January 2012) | N/A | |
| Zambia | 24 families (May 2009) | N/A | |
| Kazakhstan | | 213 (2016) | |

## Notable people

The list include Serbs born abroad, people of full or partial Serbian descent and immigrants from Serbia or Serbian native communities who made significant career abroad.

### Actors

* Sasha Alexander
* Milla Jovovich
* Stana Katic
* Karl Malden
* Bojana Novakovic
* Holly Valance
* Natasha Stankovic

### Artists and designers

* Roksanda Ilincic

### Beauty pageants and models

* Tijana Arnautović
* Myriam Klink
* Veruska Ljubisavljević
* Romina Mattar
* Monika Radulovic

### Military people

* Pierre Marinovitch
* Mikhail Miloradovich
* Peter Tekeli
* Marko Ivanovich Voinovich
* Matija Zmajevic

### Musicians

* Alex Lifeson
* Alexander Zonjic
* Luigi von Kunits
* Lene Lovich

### Politicians

* Claudia Pavlovich Arellano
* Sokollu Mehmed Pasha
* Sava Vladislavich
* George Voinovich

### Scientists

* Mileva Marić
* Mihajlo Pupin
* Miodrag Radulovacki
* Nikola Tesla

### Sportspeople

* Jelena Dokic
* Milan Lucic
* Pete Maravich
* Kristina Mladenovic
* Milan Vučićević
* Daniel Nestor
* Andrea Petkovic
* Gregg Popovich
* Milos Raonic
* Alex Smith
* Velimir Stjepanović
* Danijel Šarić
* Milan Trajkovic
* James Trifunov
* Bill Vukovich
* Gisela Dulko
* Víctor Manuel Vucetich
* Luka Dončić

### Writers

* Charles Simic
* Steve Tesich
* Dejan Tiago-Stanković
* Vladimir Voinovich

### Other

* Nick Vujicic