site.btaSerbia's Population Declines by 660,000 People between 2011 and 2025

Serbia's population has declined by 660,000 people in the last 14 years, RTS said on Thursday. Between the last two censuses, conducted in 2011 and 2022, the country's population declined by more than half a million people, and now, almost three years later, that number has exceeded 660,000, according to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

In the first half of this year, almost 1,500 fewer babies were born in Serbia than in the same period last year, and the trend of deaths outnumbering births on an annual basis began more than 30 years ago, RTS notes. 

According to statisticians' projections, by 2041, one in four people in Serbia will be over 65 years of age.

"In 2025, we will have 5.2 million inhabitants. The average age of the population will be 46.4 years. Half of the population will live in Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, and Novi Pazar. The number of municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents and between 5,000 and 10,000 residents is increasing," Gordana Bjelobrk from the Statistical Office told RTS.

The population in Serbia is also declining due to migration processes. Every year, an average of 11,000 more people leave Serbia than return to the country.

"Between the last two censuses, about 147,000 residents left Serbia. The average age of people going abroad is between 30 and 35. Most often they go to Europe. They return after a certain period. Those who return are 44 years old on average," added Bjelobrk.