First results of 2022 population census released

RZS director Miladin Kovacevic said that the first results of the population census, which ended on November 17, show the population of Serbia is 6,690,887. Data on 2,520,854 households and 3,628,175 dwellings were also collected through the 2022 census.

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, said the RZS.

“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 and they 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,” said Kovacevic, adding that the census was not conducted in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija (the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country's southern province).

When compared with the 2011 Census, the total number of inhabitants fell by 495,975, or by 6.9 percent. Decreased number of inhabitants was recorded in all regions (about 10 percent), except for the Belgrade region whose population increased by about 1.6 percent, said the RZS.

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, said the RZS.