First Census Results – Serbia Has Nearly 500,000 Fewer Residents Than in 2011

The first results of the 2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings indicate that 6,690,887 inhabitants live in the Republic of Serbia. When compared with the 2011 Census, the total number of inhabitants fell by 495,975, i.e. by 6.9%. Decreased number of inhabitants was recorded in all the regions (about 10%), except for Beogradski region where the number of inhabitants grew by about 1.6%, according to the website of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The biggest growth of the number of inhabitants was recorded in Zvezdara, Vozdovac, Novi Sad and Novi Pazar. The biggest drop was recorded in Crna Trava, Gadzin Han, Rekovac and Babusnica.

According to Miladin Kovacevic, the director of the Statistical Office, 6,472,570 people were directly enumerated, and 218,317 were added from administrative records, Blic reported.

He added that, in larger cities, especially in Belgrade, there were higher rates of those not enumerated than planned.

– This is the first census where the census takers went around with laptops and probably the last one carried out through the direct surveying of the residents in the field – Kovacevic said.

Through the 2022 Census data were collected on 2,520,854 households and 3,628,175 dwellings. No significant change was observed in the total number of households (growth of 1.33%), while the total number of dwellings was up by 12.26% relative to the 2011 Census. The largest increase in the number of dwellings was recorded in Beogradski region (18.55%).

The Census was carried out from 1 to 31 October 2022. Field data collection was extended in several towns up to 7 November. Telephone enumeration was enabled up to 17 November 2022 for citizens who, for whatever reason, were not enumerated. The Census was not conducted on the territory of AP Kosovo and Metohija.

As the purpose of the population census is to provide an exhaustive picture of the entire population, in line with the positive international practice, the database obtained by direct enumeration was complemented with data from administrative records, it is said.

– The first results of the Census contain the main data on the total number of enumerated persons, number of inhabitants, households and dwellings, according to the situation on 30 September 2022. The first results of the Census are subject to changes during the statistical processing of data. The final results of the Census will be published successively, from April 2023 to June 2024 – says the website of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

Republički zavod za statistiku

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

Miladin Kovačević

2022 Census of Population Households and Dwellings

number of inhabitants of Serbia

number of dwellings in Serbia