Serbia Population

In the 1990’s, Serbia was characterized by war, ethnic conflict and suffering. In the 2000s, the country has started to pile up again, but the political and economic challenges are still great.

Key figures and facts

• Capital: Belgrade
• Ethnic groups: Serbs 83.3%, Hungarians 3.5%, Romanians 2.1%, Bosnians 2%, others 5.7% Unknown 3.4% (2011)
• Language: Serbian 88.1% (official), Hungarian 3.4%, Bosnian 1.9%, Romanian 1.4%, other 3.4%, unknown 1.8% (2011) Several other official in Vojvodina Province.
• Religion: Serbian Orthodox 84.6%, Catholics 5%, Muslims 3.1%, Atheists 1.1%, Protestants 1%, others 0.8%, Unknown 4.5% (2011)
• Population: 8,762,027 (2018)
• Control Form: Republic
• Area: 88 360 km2
• Currency: Serbian dinars
• GNP per capita: 14 515 PPP $
• National Day: February 15th

Serbia Population

The population of Serbia is 7 078 110 (2018). In 2018, the population was reduced by 0.47 percent. The birth and death rates per 1,000 residents in 2018 were 8.9 and 13.6, respectively, while the birth rate per woman was 1.44. Life expectancy at birth was 79.0 years for women in 2018 and 73.0 years for men.

Serbia’s largest population groups are Serbs (85.1 percent), Hungarians (2.8 percent), Ruthenians (2.2 percent), Croats (1.6 percent), Plains (1.2 percent, rooms (0.4 percent)) (IPSOS 2011), as well as an Albanian minority in southern Serbia.

The Kosovo conflict and the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia caused great human suffering, giving Serbia a major refugee problem. An estimated 150,000 people from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina live as refugees in Serbia. In addition, nearly 230,000, most Serbs and Roma, have fled Kosovo to other parts of Serbia. See also the article Serbia’s history.

The population density is greatest in the plain of the Danube and Tisza. The largest cities are Belgrade (1,398 million residents), Novi Sad (277 522 residents), Niš (260 237 residents), and Kragujevac (190 011 residents). 56.1 percent of the country’s population lives in urban areas (2018).

Population of Serbia by Year (Historical)

Year	Population	Annual Growth Rate	Population Density	Global Rank
2020	8,737,260	-0.400%	99.9013	99
2019	8,772,124	-0.350%	100.3000	99
2018	8,802,643	-0.300%	100.6489	98
2017	8,829,517	-0.270%	100.9562	97
2016	8,853,852	-0.260%	101.2344	96
2015	8,876,666	-0.260%	101.4953	96
2010	8,991,143	-0.440%	102.8042	92
2005	9,193,714	-0.630%	105.1203	85
2000	9,487,505	-0.820%	108.4795	81
1995	9,884,036	0.760%	113.0133	75
1990	9,517,564	0.560%	108.8232	72
1985	9,253,294	0.760%	105.8016	70
1980	8,908,183	0.950%	101.8556	65
1975	8,497,059	0.910%	97.1549	64
1970	8,119,749	0.720%	92.8408	64
1965	7,834,972	0.730%	89.5848	63
1960	7,556,616	0.870%	86.4021	58
1955	7,234,811	1.450%	82.7226	56
1950	6,732,145	0.000%	76.9753	54

Major Cities in Serbia by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Belgrade	1,273,540
2	Nis	249,889
3	Novi Sad	215,289
4	Zemun	155,480
5	Kragujevac	147,362
6	Cacak	116,961
7	Subotica	99,889
8	Leskovac	94,647
9	Novi Pazar	85,885
10	Kraljevo	82,735
11	Zrenjanin	79,662
12	Pancevo	76,543
13	Krusevac	75,145
14	Uzice	63,466
15	Smederevo	61,889
16	Valjevo	60,924
17	Vranje	56,088
18	Sabac	55,003
19	Zajecar	49,689
20	Trstenik	48,932
21	Sombor	48,343
22	Kikinda	41,824
23	Pozarevac	41,625
24	Pirot	40,567
25	Bor	39,276
26	Sremska Mitrovica	38,973
27	Vrsac	36,189
28	Jagodina	35,478
29	Ruma	32,118
30	Backa Palanka	29,338
31	Prokuplje	27,562
32	Smederevska Palanka	26,889
33	Ingija	26,136
34	Vrbas	25,796
35	Becej	25,663
36	Knjazevac	24,889
37	Arangelovac	24,198
38	Gornji Milanovac	23,871
39	Lazarevac	23,440
40	Sremcica	22,889
41	Cuprija	20,474
42	Senta	20,191
43	Apatin	18,209
44	Negotin	17,501
45	Obrenovac	16,710
46	Stara Pazova	16,106
47	Backa Topola	16,043
48	Nova Pazova	15,377
49	Kovin	14,139
50	Petrovaradin	13,806
51	Surcin	12,464
52	Bela Crkva	10,564
53	Veternik	10,115
54	Vrnjacka Banja	10,096
55	Kanjiza	10,089
56	Majdanpek	9,960
57	Curug	9,120
58	Backo Petrovo Selo	8,848
59	Sremski Karlovci	8,728
60	Bajina Basta	8,422
61	Zabalj	8,392
62	Novi Knezevac	8,055
63	Mol	7,839
64	Novo Milosevo	7,694
65	Melenci	7,574
66	Dobanovci	7,481
67	Lapovo	7,311
68	Kovacica	7,246
69	Backi Petrovac	7,118
70	Bogatic	7,114
71	Arilje	6,651
72	Mokrin	6,456
73	Debeljaca	6,302
74	Beska	6,266
75	Padina	6,256
76	Banatski Karlovac	6,208
77	Titel	6,116
78	Paracin	5,889
79	Sonta	5,880
80	Badovinci	5,768
81	Backo Gradiste	5,653
82	Umka	5,507
83	Stanisic	5,365
84	Srpska Crnja	5,356
85	Coka	5,303
86	Crepaja	5,258
87	Zvecka	5,210
88	Ecka	5,182
89	Kovilj	5,168
90	Vladimirovac	4,995
91	Baric	4,922
92	Prigrevica	4,915
93	Celarevo	4,906

Religion

According to a 2011 survey, 86.5 percent of the population is Orthodox, 5.3 percent are Catholics and 4 percent are Muslims. Other Christians make up 1.2 percent and non-religious 2.7 percent (IPSOS 2011). In the 2011 census, Serbia has a total of over 6.5 million Christians. Of these, over 6 million are Orthodox, approximately 357,000 are Catholics, approximately 71,000 are Protestant, and approximately 3200 are other Christians.

Of other religions, Islam is the largest, with approximately 223,000 followers. Almost as many have not stated any religion, about 221,000, and almost 100,000 are unknown. Around 85,000 residents are atheists and agnostics. There are less than 600 Jews, while around 1200 state “Eastern religions” (census of 2011).

Language

Serbian is the official language. It is spoken by more than 90 percent of the population. Hungarian is the mother tongue for 2.5 percent, Albanian for 2 percent, Armenian for 1.5 percent and Romani for 0.6 percent. Some Romanians state Romanian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Greek as their mother tongue (IPSOS 2011).

The Serbian Census of 2011 states population figures from native languages ​​as follows:

• Serbian 6.33 million
• Hungarian 43,000
• Bosnian 139,000
• room 101 000
• Slovak 50,000
• Armenian(Plains) 43,000
• Romanian 29,000
• Croatian 19,000
• Bulgarian 13,500
• Macedonian 13,000
• Ruthenian 11500
• Albanian 10,000
• Russian 3000
• Slovenian 2000
• Montenegrin 2500
• unspecified 128,000