In the 1991 census, the country had a population of 4.37 million, which was believed to have fallen to 3.9 million during an unofficial UNHCR census in 1996. The population has dropped even further to 3.79 million.
While the war in Bosnia ended 18 years ago, its scars are still visible in the area, and mass graves are still being discovered. Ethnic tensions were also aggravated leading up to the recent census. Bosnia's population is expected to continue a slow decline in the coming years.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's population growth rate has improved since it lost nearly one-third of its population in the 1990s genocide, but the growth rate continues to be negative. Not only has the population been shrinking, but for the first time, there were more old people than young in 2015. Improving the fertility rate and the desire of its citizens to have children would certainly help the situation, but it is believed that it would still take at least 2 generations to make up for the losses they have suffered since the 1990s. Experts believe that the best way to increase the population would be to revive the cities and their opportunities, find a better balance between immigration and emigration, manage shrinking settlements to make sure they are still habitable and rethink service delivery mechanisms so that people in rural areas can have access to things like medicine and education. As of 2019, the annual growth rate in Bosnia Herzegovina was -0.05%.
Unless the aforementioned measures are quickly implemented, it is not expected that the population growth rate in Bosnia Herzegovina will become positive in the near future. Current projections believe that emigration will continually increase the annual growth rate will decline towards -0.63% by 2050, with the population dipping below 3 million by around 2055. These same predictions say that the population will be roughly 3,498,210 in 2020, 3,404,781 in 2030, 3,251,170 by 2040 and 3,058,143 by 2050.
| Bosnia and Herzegovina Population (as of 10/15/2024) | 3,157,618 |
| Last UN Estimate (July 1, 2024) | 3,164,250 |
| Births per Day | 67 |
| Deaths per Day | 117 |
| Migrations per Day | -12 |
| Net Change per Day | -63 |
| Population Change Since Jan. 1 | -18,144 |
Net decrease of 1 person every 22.85 minutes
Population estimates based on interpolation of data from World Population Prospects
| One birth every 21.5 minutes | |
| One death every 12.3 minutes | |
| One emigrant every 120 minutes | |
| Net loss of one person every 22.85 minutes |
City | 2024 Pop. |
|---|---|
| Sarajevo | 696,731 |
| Banja Luka | 221,106 |
| Zenica | 164,423 |
| Tuzla | 142,486 |
| Mostar | 104,518 |
| Bihac | 75,641 |
| Bugojno | 41,378 |
| Brcko | 38,968 |
| Bijeljina | 37,692 |
| Prijedor | 36,347 |
Often just called Bosnia for short, the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in southeast Europe and is almost entirely landlocked, with a small amount of coastline along the Adriatic Sea. The rest of its border is touched by Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro and it covers 19,767 square miles (51,197 square kilometers) which ranks 129th in the world in terms of size. The country is very mountainous, but also large areas of plain in the northeast. The 2019 population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was 3.5 million, giving it a population density of 177 people per square mile (68 people per square kilometer), which ranks 113th in the world in that regard.
Nearly half of the population in Bosnia Herzegovina live in or around an urban area, but this is spread out between many smaller cities instead of a few substantially large ones. The largest city is the capital of Sarajevo with a population of 440,000 within the city limits and 608,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Sarajevo is found in the Dinaric Alps on the banks of the Mikjacka River and is known as the "Jerusalem of Europe" because it is the only European city to have a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a mosque in the same neighborhood. In the northwest portion of the country is the second-largest city of Banja Luka with a population of 199,191. Banja Luka is a cultural center with many museums, making it a popular tourist spot. Another popular tourist spot is the third-largest city of Tuzla, found in the northeast, which is home to Europe's only salt lake. Other notable cities with populations over 100,000 include Zenica, Bijeljina, and Mostar.
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3,164,250 | -1.11% | 62 | 136 | 150 |
| 2023 | 3,185,070 | -1.22% | 62 | 136 | 150 |
| 2020 | 3,299,350 | -1.38% | 65 | 133 | 148 |
| 2019 | 3,345,530 | -1.22% | 66 | 133 | 147 |
| 2018 | 3,387,000 | -1.22% | 66 | 133 | 145 |
| 2017 | 3,428,680 | -1.28% | 67 | 132 | 143 |
| 2015 | 3,518,540 | -1.59% | 69 | 133 | 139 |
| 2010 | 3,811,470 | -1.43% | 75 | 128 | 126 |
| 2005 | 4,096,490 | -0.31% | 80 | 124 | 115 |
| 2000 | 4,159,770 | 2.28% | 82 | 120 | 113 |
| 1995 | 3,715,560 | -3.54% | 73 | 120 | 117 |
| 1990 | 4,448,650 | 0.54% | 87 | 109 | 105 |
| 1985 | 4,330,360 | 0.86% | 85 | 105 | 99 |
| 1980 | 4,148,430 | 0.91% | 81 | 103 | 94 |
| 1975 | 3,965,740 | 1% | 78 | 102 | 93 |
| 1970 | 3,773,250 | 1.15% | 74 | 97 | 92 |
| 1965 | 3,562,830 | 1.66% | 70 | 97 | 90 |
| 1960 | 3,281,380 | 2.14% | 64 | 94 | 90 |
| 1955 | 2,952,170 | 1.87% | 58 | 93 | 90 |
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3,164,250 | -1.11% | 62 | 136 | 150 |
| 2025 | 3,140,100 | -0.98% | 62 | 136 | 151 |
| 2030 | 3,013,970 | -0.82% | 59 | 139 | 156 |
| 2035 | 2,881,540 | -0.9% | 57 | 141 | 161 |
| 2040 | 2,745,010 | -0.97% | 54 | 143 | 163 |
| 2045 | 2,599,930 | -1.08% | 51 | 144 | 169 |
| 2050 | 2,455,170 | -1.14% | 48 | 145 | 171 |
| 2055 | 2,312,510 | -1.19% | 45 | 146 | 175 |
| 2060 | 2,171,310 | -1.25% | 43 | 146 | 177 |
| 2065 | 2,040,180 | -1.24% | 40 | 146 | 180 |
| 2070 | 1,916,070 | -1.25% | 38 | 147 | 182 |
| 2075 | 1,802,040 | -1.22% | 35 | 147 | 183 |
| 2080 | 1,697,350 | -1.19% | 33 | 151 | 186 |
| 2085 | 1,603,000 | -1.14% | 31 | 151 | 187 |
| 2090 | 1,519,510 | -1.06% | 30 | 151 | 188 |
| 2095 | 1,442,030 | -1.04% | 28 | 151 | 190 |
43.3
Total
41.6
Male
44.8
Female
There are people over age 18 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (also called Bosnia-Herzegovina BiH or just Bosnia) is a small country in Southeast Europe with 12 miles of coastline on the Adriatic Sea.
Bosnia has one of the highest life expectancy, education and literacy rates in the area and it has the third highest tourism growth rate globally between 1995 and 2020. There are three ethnic groups in Bosnia, with all citizens being identified as a Bosnian. Bosnian and Herzegovinian are used to designate region, not ethnicity.
The three ethnic groups are Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. According to 2000 information from the CIA, the ethnic breakdown is 48% Bosniak, 37% Serbs, 14% Croats and 0.6% other.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has no official state religion and allows for religious freedom, however religious intolerance and discrimination exist against religious minorities. Just over half of the population practice Islam, Orthodox Christians make up 31% of the population and Catholicism is practiced by an additional 15%. No one religion has been the target of discrimination and it remains a problem in nearly all communities.
Since the 1990s the open economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been doing really well. The biggest challenge their economy faces us their economic model which is imbalanced between public policies that are favor public over the private sector, consumption is valued over investment, and imports are more valued than exports. This will need to shift in order for the country to maintain its current fiscal situation.
A few years before the precipitation of World War I, Bosnia Herzegovina was annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary post-war, Bosnia Herzegovina became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1941, a pro-Hitler Croatian state annexed the country and sent thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies to concentration camps. They were liberated in 1945 and were a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 1991 when communism fell.
By 1992, Croat and Muslim nationalists allied to outvote Serbs at an independence referendum, leading to another war outbreak with widespread casualties and deportations. In 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overrun the haven of Srebrenica and killed 8,000 Muslims and soon after the Dayton peace accord was created leading to two equally sized entities for the Bosnian Muslims and Croats, respectively. This was later declared genocide by the International Court of Justice, but Serbia was cleared of responsibility, forcing former Bosnian Serb leaders to flee. Bosnian Muslims, Croats, and Serbs reached a peace agreement in 2011. In 2014, the worst flood in modern history left one-quarter of the population without clean water and half a million people without homes.