This article presents the demographic history of Serbia through census results. See Demographics of Serbia for a more detailed overview of the current demographics.
Serbia has a well-established tradition of conducting censuses.
The first census was conducted in 1834 in the Principality of Serbia. The subsequent censuses were conducted in 1841, 1843, 1846, 1850, 1854, 1859, 1863, 1866, and 1874. The 1866 Census is considered the first modern census, the one that covered the entire population of the country. The 1874 Census was more extensive and the collected data were presented in lower territorial units (municipalities and districts). In 1878, at the Berlin Congress, Serbia received international recognition of independence, with the territory extended to the Nià ¡, Pirot, Vranje, and Toplica districts. In order to determine the number of people and taxpayers in the new regions, a partial census was carried out in 1879. During the period of the Kingdom of Serbia, six censuses were conducted: in 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1905, and 1910.
In the period between the two world wars, only two censuses were carried out, in 1921 and 1931. The next census was planned for 1941, but due to the World War II it was not conducted. Due to the need to collect data on the damage caused by the destruction of the war in the shortest possible time, in 1948 the so-called "shortened" and in 1953 the first complete post-war census was conducted. Starting from the 1961 census, in accordance with the recommendations from the United Nations, the ten-year periodicals were established, so the following censuses were conducted in 1961, 1971, 1981, and 1991, respectively.
The first census in the 21st century, planned for 2001, was postponed to 2002, due to budget crisis. Due to the COVID pandemic the last census, planned for 2021, was postponed and conducted in 2022.
Total population: 678,192
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Total population: 828,895
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Total population: 859,545
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Total population: 915,080
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Total population: 956,893
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Total population: 998,919
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Total population: 1,078,281
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Total population: 1,108,568
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Total population: 1,352,522
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Total population: 2,341,675
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Total population: 2,754,859
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<small>Note: in 1948 Census, Muslims of South Slavic ethnic origin were not recognized as a distinct ethnicity and had no separate census category for themselves to declare; they were provided with the following possible categories to declare: "Serb-Muslim", "Croat-Muslim" or "Muslim-undeclared", with Serb-Muslims being categorized in the census results as Serbs, Croats-Muslims as Croats, while Muslims-undeclared were counted separately.</small>
<small>Note: in 1953 Census, Muslims of South Slavic ethnic origin were not recognized as a distinct ethnicity and had no separate census category for themselves to declare; they were categorized as "Yugoslavs-undeclared".</small>
<small>Note: in 1961 Census, Muslims of South Slavic ethnic origin were not recognized as a distinct ethnicity and had no separate census category for themselves to declare; they were categorized as "ethnic Muslims".</small>
<small>Note: ethnic Albanians largely boycotted 1991 Census; their figure is an official estimation by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.</small>
<small>Note: ethnic Albanians largely boycotted 1991 Census; their figure is an official estimation by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.</small>
<small>Note: ethnic Albanians largely boycotted 2011 Census; their figure is an official estimation by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.</small>