# 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 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.

### 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 (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.

### 1878 census

* TOTAL = 1,669,337
In 1879 there was a census in the four counties ceded to Serbia in 1878.

### 1884 census

Source:

#### 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
* Serbs = over 2 million (ca. 90%)
* Romanians = 159,000 (6.43%)
* Roma ("Gypsies") = 46,000 (1.84%)

## 20th century
### 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
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 1948.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1948.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1948.

### 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
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 1961.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1961.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1961.

### 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
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 1971.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1971.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1971.

### 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
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1981.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1981.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1981.

### 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:
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 1991.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1991.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1991.
* Religious structure of Serbia by settlements 1991.
* Share of Orthodox in Serbia by municipalities 1991.
Registered population:
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1991.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 1991.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 1991.

### 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%)
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 2002.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 2002.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 2002.
* Religious structure of Serbia by settlements 2002.
* Share of Orthodox in Serbia by municipalities 2002.

### 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%)
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by settlements 2011.
* Linguistic structure of Serbia by settlements 2011.
* Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities 2011.
* Linguistic structure of Serbia by municipalities 2011.
* Religious structure of Serbia by municipalities 2011.
* Share of Serbs in Serbia by municipalities 2011.
* Share of Serbian speakers in Serbia by municipalities 2011.
* Share of Orthodox in Serbia by municipalities 2011.

### 2022 census

* TOTAL = 6,647,003
* 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:
| | 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:
| | 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 |