Since the 1990s, Serbia’s population has been gradually declining. At 9.88 million in 1995, the population is now 8.74 million in 2020. According to current projections, the population will be cut in half by the end of the century with an estimated 4.28 million people by the end of 2099.
Serbia’s population decreased at a rate of 0.40% from 2019 to 2020, resulting in a population loss of about 35,000 people. This population decline rate has been increasing every year since 2015. The fertility rate is low at 1.46 births per woman. Additionally, Serbia has a “brain drain,” where the most educated skilled people leave to other countries to find better opportunities.
The population decline is considered a national emergency by the Serbian government, who enlisted the help of the United Nations to try and slow the shrinking.
The last official census was conducted in 2011 and excluded Kosovo, which held its own census placing its population at 1.73 million. Serbia itself has been in demographic crisis since the early 1990's with a death rate that still exceeds its birth rate. Serbia, along with Bulgaria, has one of the most negative population growth rates in the world, with one of the lowest fertility rates (just 1.44 children per woman). 1/5 of all households consist of just one person and Serbia has among the 10 oldest populations in the world.
The slight negative growth of Serbia is expected to continue declining in the years to come and become somewhat more drastic. In the next 30 years, it is projected that the rate of decrease will nearly double from -0.34% in 2020 to -0.61% in 2050. These projections state that the actual number of citizens in Serbia will decrease by more than a million during this time with the population being 8,703,942 in 2020, 8,355,445 in 2030, 7,912,824 in 2040, and 7,447,023 by 2050.
| Serbia Population (as of 11/25/2023) | 7,123,088 |
| Last UN Estimate (July 1, 2023) | 7,149,077 |
| Births per Day | 178 |
| Deaths per Day | 327 |
| Migrations per Day | -27 |
| Net Change per Day | -176 |
| Population Change Since Jan. 1 | -57,904 |
Net decrease of 1 person every 8.18 minutes
Population estimates based on interpolation of data from World Population Prospects
| One birth every 8.08 minutes | |
| One death every 4.4 minutes | |
| One emigrant every 53.33 minutes | |
| Net loss of one person every 8.18 minutes |
City | Population |
|---|---|
| Belgrade | 1,273,651 |
| Nis | 250,000 |
| Novi Sad | 215,400 |
| Zemun | 155,591 |
| Kragujevac | 147,473 |
| Cacak | 117,072 |
| Subotica | 100,000 |
| Leskovac | 94,758 |
| Novi Pazar | 85,996 |
| Kraljevo | 82,846 |
Serbia is a landlocked nation in southeastern Europe that covers 34,116 square miles (88,361 square kilometers). It is located between the Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean, and Black Seas but is touched by none of them, but shares its borders with Romania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Hungary. The land itself is broken down into thirds as far as geography, with the northern third being plains, the middle third is made up of hills and rivers, and the southern third is mountainous. Using the 2017 Serbian population of 7.022 million, the population density of the nation 205.8 people per square miles (79.5 people per square kilometer), making it the 95th most densely populated country in the world.
Just over half of the people in Serbia live in or around an urban area, but being that Serbia isn't too large of a country in general, there aren't many large cities. Serbia has only one city with a population of over 1 million: Belgrade, the capital, has about 1.3 million people (1.7 in the metro area). Belgrade a large financial center, not only in Serbia but in the entire region of Southern Europe. It is also a major hub for technology and regional culture. The second and third largest cities are Novi Sad and Niš, both having populations approaching 300,000. Other notable cities with populations over 100,000 include Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Čačak, Zrenjanin-Pančevo, Smederevo, Subotica, and Novi Pazar.
Year | Population | Growth Rate | Density (km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | 6,348,547 | 1.08% | 72.59 | 64 | 73 |
| 1960 | 6,579,989 | 0.72% | 75.23 | 66 | 78 |
| 1965 | 6,902,989 | 0.96% | 78.93 | 66 | 79 |
| 1970 | 7,193,533 | 0.83% | 82.25 | 66 | 86 |
| 1975 | 7,479,833 | 0.78% | 85.52 | 70 | 87 |
| 1980 | 7,777,010 | 0.78% | 88.92 | 73 | 88 |
| 1985 | 7,912,069 | 0.34% | 90.47 | 77 | 93 |
| 1990 | 7,987,529 | 0.19% | 91.33 | 81 | 100 |
| 1995 | 7,982,462 | -0.01% | 91.27 | 83 | 104 |
| 2000 | 7,935,022 | -0.12% | 90.73 | 92 | 105 |
| 2005 | 7,830,944 | -0.26% | 89.54 | 92 | 107 |
| 2010 | 7,653,748 | -0.46% | 87.51 | 97 | 115 |
| 2015 | 7,519,496 | -0.35% | 85.98 | 101 | 120 |
| 2017 | 7,464,880 | -0.38% | 85.35 | 103 | 121 |
| 2018 | 7,433,818 | -0.42% | 85.00 | 104 | 121 |
| 2019 | 7,401,056 | -0.44% | 84.62 | 104 | 122 |
| 2020 | 7,358,005 | -0.58% | 84.13 | 104 | 124 |
| 2022 | 7,221,365 | -0.66% | 82.57 | 105 | 131 |
| 2023 | 7,149,077 | -0.78% | 81.74 | 105 | 132 |
Year | Population | Growth Rate | Density (km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7,149,077 | -0.78% | 81.74 | 105 | 132 |
| 2024 | 7,097,028 | -0.83% | 81.15 | 106 | 132 |
| 2025 | 7,056,385 | -0.83% | 80.68 | 106 | 134 |
| 2030 | 6,832,604 | -0.64% | 78.12 | 112 | 139 |
| 2035 | 6,581,784 | -0.74% | 75.25 | 115 | 146 |
| 2040 | 6,315,060 | -0.82% | 72.21 | 117 | 152 |
| 2045 | 6,044,880 | -0.87% | 69.12 | 119 | 155 |
| 2050 | 5,777,806 | -0.9% | 66.06 | 122 | 156 |
| 2055 | 5,511,650 | -0.94% | 63.02 | 125 | 159 |
| 2060 | 5,237,857 | -1.01% | 59.89 | 127 | 164 |
| 2065 | 4,954,111 | -1.11% | 56.64 | 128 | 166 |
| 2070 | 4,667,886 | -1.18% | 53.37 | 130 | 170 |
| 2075 | 4,390,243 | -1.22% | 50.20 | 133 | 170 |
| 2080 | 4,130,637 | -1.21% | 47.23 | 135 | 170 |
| 2085 | 3,892,300 | -1.18% | 44.50 | 136 | 174 |
| 2090 | 3,673,067 | -1.15% | 42.00 | 137 | 176 |
| 2095 | 3,466,260 | -1.15% | 39.63 | 137 | 179 |
43.4
Total
41.7
Male
45
Female
There are people over age 18 in Serbia.
Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 31 March 1991 |
| 2002 | 31 March 2002 |
| 2011 | 15 October 2011 |
| 2021 | 31 March 2021 |
Serbs make up the largest ethnic group in Serbia with 83% of the population, followed by Hungarians (3.5%). There are about 450,000 Romas in the country and 145,000 Bosniaks. Other minorities include Croats, Slovaks, Albanians, Romanians and Bulgarians.
Serbia is a very predominantly Christian nation, with a very significant 84.59% of the population being Orthodox, 4.97% being Catholic and 0.99% being Catholic. Despite this vast majority, there is no official language of the state and religiously based discrimination is outlawed. The remaining portion of the population is either Muslim (3.10%) or without religion.
The economy in Serbia is largely market-based and relies heavily on manufacturing, exports, and state-owned companies. They have a fairly strong middle-income economy, and the service sector makes up two-thirds of the nation's GDP. The strongest sectors are energy, automobiles, machinery, mining and agriculture, and the primary exports leaving Serbia include automobiles, iron/steel, rubber, agriculture, weapons, and electric/metal products. The capital city of Belgrade is also the economic capital of the country.
Serbia functions as a parliamentary democracy, and the prime minister is the head of the government which is broken up into executive, legislative and judiciary branches. The president is seen as a symbol of national unity and is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 five-year terms. the legislative branch is made up of 250 elected deputies that are responsible for enforcing laws, approving budgets, scheduling elections, declaring wars, and ratifying treaties. the judicial branch is made up of a constitutional Supreme court and several smaller court.
Serbia has been an independent nation since 1991 after the downfall of Yugoslavia, and applying for EU membership in 2009, which risked severing political ties with Russia- whom they have been historically dependent upon for energy.
Serbia had the largest refugee population in Europe just twenty years ago, accounting for 7.5% of its population. 300,000 people left the country in the 90's, one-fifth of which had a higher education.