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 2002 census.

Middle Ages

1349

According to Dušan's Code, the legal code of the Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks Dušan the Mighty, the people of the Serbian Empire were:

1834-1863

The years after the Serbian Revolution saw frequent border changes of Serbia amidst the disintegration of the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Total population:

• 1834: 678,192
• 1841: 828,895
• 1843: 859,545
• 1846: 915,080
• 1850: 956,893
• 1854: 998,919
• 1859: 1,078.281
• 1863: 1,108.668

1866 census in Serbia

• TOTAL = 1,216,219^[1]
• Serbs = 1,058,189 (87.01%)
• Romanians (Vlachs) = 127,545 (10.49%)
• Roma (Gypsies) = 24,607 (2.02%)
• Germans = 2,589 (0.21%)
• other = 3,256 (0.27%)

1878 census in Serbia

• TOTAL = 1,669,337^[2]

1895 census in Serbia

• TOTAL = 2,493,770^[2]
• Serbs = over 2 Mill. (ca. 90%)
• Romanians (Vlachs) = 159,000 (6.43%)
• Roma (Gipsies) = 46,000 (1.84%)

1921 census in Serbia

The 1921 census in Serbia (without Vojvodina, but including Kosovo and Macedonia)

• TOTAL = 4,133,478
• Serbs and Croats = 3,339,369 (80.87%)
• Albanians = 420,473 (10.17%)
• Vlachs = 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 Roma) = 44,002

1948 census in Serbia

• TOTAL = 6,527,966
• Serbs = 4,823,730 (73.89%)
• Albanians = 532,011 (8.15%)
• Hungarians = 433,701 (6.64%)
• Croats = 169,864 (2.60%)
• Montenegrins = 74,860 (1.15%)
• Roma = 52,181
• Slovenes = 20,998
• Macedonians = 17,917
• Muslims by nationality = 17,315

1953 census in Serbia

• 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%)
• Muslims by nationality = 81,081 (1.16%)
• Roma = 58,800
• Macedonians = 27,277
• Slovenes = 20,717

1961 census in Serbia

• 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%)
• Muslims by nationality = 93,467 (1.22%)
• Macedonians = 36,288
• Yugoslavs = 20,079
• Slovenes = 19,957
• Roma = 9,826

1971 census in Serbia

• 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%)
• Muslims by nationality = 154,330 (1.83%)
• Montenegrins = 125,260 (1.48%)
• Yugoslavs = 123,824 (1.47%)
• Slovaks = 76,733
• Romanians = 57,419
• Bulgarians = 53,800
• Roma = 49,894
• Macedonians = 42,675
• Rusyns = 20,608
• Turks = 18,220
• Slovenes = 15,957
• Vlachs = 14,724

1981 census in Serbia

• 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%)
• Muslims by nationality = 215,166 (2.31%)
• Croats = 149,368 (1.60%)
• Montenegrins = 147,466 (1.58%)
• Roma = 110,956 (1.19%)
• Macedonians = 48,986
• Slovenes = 12,006

1991 census in Serbia (including Kosovo)

• 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%)
• Muslims by nationality (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%)

1991 census in Serbia (excluding Kosovo)

• TOTAL = 7,822,795
• Serbs = 6,252,405 (79.93%)
• Hungarians = 343,800 (4.39%)
• Yugoslavs = 320,186 (4.09%)
• Muslims by nationality = 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 = 42,316 (0.54%)
• Bulgarians = 26,698 (0.34%)
• Bunjevci = 21,434 (0.34%)
• Ukrainians = 18,052 (0.23%)
• Vlachs = 17,804 (0.23%)
• others = 34,698 (0.44%)
• unspecified = 10,538 (0.13%)
• regional affiliation = 4,841 (0.06%)
• unknown = 47,949 (0.61%)

2002 census in Serbia (excluding Kosovo)

• 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%)
• Romanians (total) = 74,630 (0.74%), declared particularly as:
  • Vlachs = 40,054 (0.53%)
  • Romanians = 34,576 (0.46%)
• Macedonians = 25,847 (0.35%)
• Bulgarians = 20,497 (0.27%)
• Bunjevci = 20,012 (0.27%)
• 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%)
• unspecified = 107,732 (1.44%)
• regional affiliation = 11,485 (0.15%)
• unknown = 75,483 (1.01%)

2011 census in Serbia (excluding Kosovo)

The 2011 census will give its results on October 15, 2011.^[3]

Ethnic maps of the territory of present-day Serbia

References

See also

• Demographics of Serbia - current demographics
• Demographic history of Vojvodina
• Demographic history of Kosovo
• Ethnic groups of Vojvodina