Demographics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

For demographics of Yugoslavia between 1918 and 1941, see Demographics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Demographics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, during its existence from 1945 until 1991, include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. During its last census in 1991, Yugoslavia enumerated 23,528,230 people. Serbs had a plurality, followed by Croats, Bosniaks, Albanians, Slovenes and Macedonians.

Yugoslavia population pyramid in 1991

Demographics of Yugoslavia (1961–1991), Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia

Map of population density in Yugoslavia

Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia (1991)

1. Serbs (36.2%)
2. Croats (19.7%)
3. South Slavic Muslims (10.0%)
4. Slovenes (7.50%)
5. Albanians (9.30%)
6. Macedonians (5.80%)
7. Montenegrins (2.30%)
8. Hungarians (1.60%)
9. Yugoslavs (3.00%)
10. Others combined (4.60%)

This is data from the last four Yugoslav censuses (1961, 1971, 1981, and 1991). Ethnic groups that were considered to be constitutive (explicitly mentioned in the constitution, and not considered minority or immigrant) appear in bold text.

Nationality	1961[1]	%	1971[2]	%	1981[3]	%	1991[3]	%
Serbs	7,806,152	42.1%	8,143,246	39.7%	8,140,507	36.3%	8,526,872	36.2%
Croats	4,293,809	23.2%	4,526,782	22.1%	4,428,043	19.7%	4,636,700	19.7%
Slav Muslims[a]	972,960	5.3%	1,729,932	8.4%	1,999,890	8.9%	2,353,002	10.0%
Albanians	914,733	4.9%	1,309,523	6.4%	1,730,878	7.7%	2,178,393	9.3%
Slovenes	1,589,211	8.6%	1,678,032	8.2%	1,753,571	7.8%	1,760,460	7.5%
Macedonians	1,045,516	5.7%	1,194,784	5.8%	1,341,598	6.0%	1,372,272	5.8%
Yugoslavs	317,124	1.7%	273,077	1.3%	1,209,024	5.4%	710,394	3.0%
Montenegrins	513,832	2.8%	508,843	2.5%	579,043	2.6%	539,262	2.3%
Hungarians	504,369	2.7%	477,374	2.3%	426,867	1.9%	378,997	1.6%
Romani			78,485	0.4%	148,604	0.7%	n/a	n/a
Turks			127,920	0.6%	101,328	0.5%	n/a	n/a
Slovaks			83,656	0.4%	80,300	0.4%	n/a	n/a
Romanians			58,570	0.3%	54,721	0.2%	n/a	n/a
Bulgarians			58,627	0.3%	36,642	0.2%	n/a	n/a
Vlachs			21,990	0.1%	32,071	0.1%	n/a	n/a
Rusyns			24,640	0.1%	23,320	0.1%	n/a	n/a
Czechs			24,620	0.1%	19,609	0.1%	n/a	n/a
Italians			21,791	0.1%	15,116	0.1%	n/a	n/a
Ukrainians			13,972	0.1%	12,716	0.1%	n/a	n/a
Germans			12,875	0.1%	?	?	n/a	n/a
Russians			7,427		?	?	n/a	n/a
Jews			4,811		?	?	n/a	n/a
Poles			4,033		?	?	n/a	n/a
Greeks			1,564		?	?	n/a	n/a
other/not determined	591,585	3.2%	136,398	0.6%	302,254	1.5%	n/a	n/a
Total	18,549,291	100.00%	20,522,972	100.0%	22,438,331	100.00%	23,528,230	100.0%

Republics by population

Population of Yugoslavia by republics and provinces in 1991
Serbia			40.9%
Serbia proper			24.0%
Croatia			20.6%
Bosnia and Herzegovina			18.8%
Macedonia			8.8%
Vojvodina			8.6%
Kosovo			8.4%
Slovenia			8.2%
Montenegro			2.6%

The population data are from the 1991 census.

Rank	Republic/Province	Population 1991[4]	%
1	Serbia	9,791,475	40.9%
---	Serbia proper	5,824,126	24.0%
2	Croatia	4,784,265	20.6%
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,364,574	18.8%
4	Macedonia	2,033,964	8.8%
---	Vojvodina	2,012,605	8.6%
---	Kosovo	1,954,744	8.4%
5	Slovenia	1,962,606	8.2%
6	Montenegro	615,276	2.6%
	Yugoslavia	23,528,230	100%

Republics by population density

Population density of Yugoslavia by republics and provinces in 1991
Kosovo			183.1
Serbia			114.0
Serbia proper			99.4
Slovenia			94.5
Vojvodina			92.8
Yugoslavia			92.6
Bosnia and Herzegovina			85.6
Croatia			84.6
Macedonia			79.1
Montenegro			44.5

Rank	Republic/Province	Population[4]	Area (km2)[2]	Density
---	Kosovo	1,954,744	10,887	183.1
1	SR Serbia	9,791,475	88,361	114.0
---	Serbia proper	5,824,126	55,968	99.4
2	Slovenia	1,962,606	20,251	94.5
---	Vojvodina	2,012,605	21,506	92.8
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,364,574	51,129	85.6
4	Croatia	4,784,265	56,538	84.6
5	Macedonia	2,033,964	25,713	79.1
6	Montenegro	615,276	13,810	44.5
	Yugoslavia	23,528,230	255,804	92.6

Largest cities

According to the 1991 census, there were 19 cities in Yugoslavia with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The population of these cities has developed as follows: ^[5]

Population of the largest cities in Yugoslavia (in thousands)
City	1921	1953	1981	1991
Belgrade	111,7	470,2	1.145,0	1.168,0
Zagreb	108,3	350,8	768,7	933,9
Skopje	41,1	119,0	405,9	-
Sarajevo	60,1	111,7	-	415,6
Ljubljana	53,3	111,2	-	-
Split	25,0	61,2	169,3	189,4
Novi Sad	39,2	83,2	169,8	179,6
Niš	25,1	60,7	161,0	175,4
Rijeka	*	75,3	158,3	168,0
Kragujevac	15,7	40,6	87,0	147,3
Zenica	7,6	22,6	-	145,6
Banja Luka	18,0	30,4	123,8	142,6
Tuzla	14,2	25,0	65,0	131,9
Mostar	18,2	25,9	-	126,1
Titograd	8,7	13,6	95,8	117,8
Priština	14,3	24,1	69,5	108,1
Maribor	30,6	70,8	104,7	-
Osijek	34,4	57,4	104,2	104,8
Subotica	101,9	59,8	100,2	100,4

In addition to demographic changes, the incorporation of suburbs is also responsible for the changes in the number of inhabitants. Rijeka (Fiume) was still part of Italy in 1921.

Vital statistics

Vital statistics 1947–1991

Vital statistics[6][7]	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate	Female fertile population (15–49 years)
1947	15,679,000	416,799	199,902	216,897	26.6	12.7	13.8
1948	15,901,032	446,634	214,015	232,619	28.1	13.5	14.6
1949	16,133,000	483,663	217,180	266,483	30.0	13.5	16.5
1950	16,339,860	492,993	212,165	280,828	30.2	13.0	17.2	3.77	4,411,195
1951	16,578,223	446,254	234,689	211,565	26.9	14.2	12.8	3.32	4,455,670
1952	16,793,498	498,172	197,520	300,652	29.7	11.8	17.9	3.65	4,500,131
1953	17,048,601	484,139	211,790	272,349	28.4	12.4	16.0	3.41	4,544,601
1954[8]	17,284,632	493,567	187,521	306,046	28.6	10.8	17.7	3.40	4,600,326
1955[9]	17,522,438	471,394	199,982	271,412	26.9	11.4	15.5	3.18	4,656,054
1956	17,690,580	460,235	198,497	261,738	26.0	11.2	14.8	3.04	4,711,776
1957	17,865,515	426,701	190,334	236,367	23.9	10.7	13.2	2.77	4,745,520
1958	18,034,999	432,399	166,801	265,598	24.0	9.2	14.7	2.79	4,749,438
1959	18,226,203	424,276	180,747	243,529	23.3	9.9	13.4	2.76	4,708,379
1960[10]	18,402,257	432,595	182,693	249,902	23.5	9.9	13.6	2.83	4,689,628
1961	18,592,567	422,180	167,447	254,733	22.7	9.0	13.7	2.78	4,670,880
1962	18,815,935	413,093	186,843	226,250	22.0	9.9	12.0	2.68	4,766,916
1963	19,036,409	407,406	169,744	237,662	21.4	8.9	12.5	2.64	4,804,648
1964	19,260,364	401,104	181,255	219,849	20.8	9.4	11.4	2.62	4,861,010
1965[11]	19,489,605	408,158	170,549	237,609	20.9	8.8	12.2	2.69	4,938,773
1966	19,739,122	399,802	159,570	240,232	20.3	8.1	12.2	2.64	5,043,670
1967	19,960,120	389,640	174,060	215,580	19.5	8.7	10.8	2.55	5,176,374
1968	20,121,246	382,543	174,800	207,743	19.0	8.7	10.3	2.47	5,291,934
1969	20,251,498	382,764	188,693	194,071	18.9	9.3	9.6	2.43	5,421,866
1970[12]	20,386,272	363,278	181,843	181,435	17.8	8.9	8.9	2.27	5,492,906
1971	20,579,890	375,762	179,113	196,649	18.3	8.7	9.6	2.38	5,458,432
1972	20,797,221	380,743	190,578	190,165	18.3	9.2	9.1	2.36	5,518,843
1973	21,008,154	379,051	180,997	198,054	18.0	8.6	9.4	2.31	5,575,065
1974	21,223,359	382,947	177,691	205,256	18.0	8.4	9.7	2.29	5,596,395
1975[13]	21,441,297	388,037	184,907	203,130	18.1	8.6	9.5	2.28	5,651,830
1976	21,674,043	392,364	182,965	209,399	18.1	8.4	9.7	2.26	5,684,130
1977	21,900,681	384,637	182,803	201,834	17.6	8.3	9.2	2.19	5,706,563
1978	22,121,687	381,387	191,087	190,300	17.2	8.6	8.6	2.16	5,720,058
1979	22,297,376	378,803	190,304	188,499	17.0	8.5	8.5	2.13	5,748,224
1980[14]	22,359,500	382,120	197,369	184,751	17.1	8.8	8.3	2.14	5,776,387
1981	22,499,154	369,047	201,201	167,846	16.4	8.9	7.5	2.09	5,706,892
1982	22,646,153	378,814	203,272	175,542	16.7	9.0	7.8	2.14	5,686,451
1983	22,800,697	374,610	218,980	155,630	16.4	9.6	6.8	2.11	5,704,798
1984	22,954,868	377,362	214,725	162,637	16.4	9.4	7.1	2.11	5,729,944
1985[15]	23,121,383	366,629	212,883	153,746	15.9	9.2	6.6	2.05	5,764,187
1986	23,259,342	359,626	213,149	146,477	15.5	9.2	6.3	2.00	5,830,545
1987	23,393,494	359,338	214,666	144,672	15.4	9.2	6.2	2.00	5,820,653
1988	23,526,195	356,268	213,466	142,802	15.1	9.1	6.1	1.98	5,838,991
1989	23,594,157	336,394	215,483	120,911	14.3	9.1	5.1	1.88	5,895,545
1990[16][17]	23,657,623	335,152	212,148	123,004	14.2	9.0	5.2	1.87	5,922,912
1991[18]	23,532,279	325,922	221,929	103,993	13.8	9.4	4.4	1.94	5,669,046
	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate	Female fertile population (15–49 years)

Marriages and divorces 1947–1991

	Average population	Marriages	Divorces	Crude marriage rate (per 1000)	Crude divorce rate (per 1000)	Divorces per 1000 marriages
1947	15,679,000	205,835	20,915	13.1	1.3	101.6
1948	15,901,032	203,822	24,586	12.8	1.5	120.6
1949	16,133,000	184,078	16,985	11.4	1.1	92.3
1950	16,339,860	185,965	17,879	11.4	1.1	96.1
1951	16,578,223	170,133	15,538	10.3	0.9	91.3
1952	16,793,498	176,055	12,359	10.5	0.7	70.2
1953	17,048,601	167,940	16,020	9.9	0.9	95.4
1954	17,284,632	171,547	16,053	9.9	0.9	93.6
1955	17,522,438	162,711	19,389	9.3	1.1	119.2
1956	17,690,580	156,379	19,336	8.8	1.1	123.6
1957	17,865,515	154,970	20,421	8.7	1.1	131.8
1958	18,034,999	170,242	21,856	9.4	1.2	128.4
1959	18,226,203	163,572	21,483	9.0	1.2	131.3
1960	18,402,257	168,120	22,085	9.1	1.2	131.4
1961	18,592,567	168,510	21,532	9.1	1.2	127.8
1962	18,815,935	162,672	21,198	8.6	1.1	130.3
1963	19,036,409	157,909	21,328	8.3	1.1	135.1
1964	19,260,364	166,998	21,405	8.7	1.1	128.2
1965	19,489,605	174,301	21,649	8.9	1.1	124.2
1966	19,739,122	168,789	23,042	8.6	1.2	136.5
1967	19,960,120	169,282	20,840	8.5	1.0	123.1
1968	20,121,246	170,470	20,984	8.5	1.0	123.1
1969	20,251,498	174,507	20,178	8.6	1.0	115.6
1970	20,386,272	182,704	20,473	9.0	1.0	112.1
1971	20,579,890	183,916	21,347	8.9	1.0	116.1
1972	20,797,221	186,156	22,040	9.0	1.1	118.4
1973	21,008,154	183,665	23,221	8.7	1.1	126.4
1974	21,223,359	181,192	24,802	8.5	1.2	136.9
1975	21,441,297	180,046	25,137	8.4	1.2	139.6
1976	21,674,043	174,918	24,431	8.1	1.1	139.7
1977	21,900,681	178,783	22,990	8.2	1.0	128.6
1978	22,121,687	178,819	24,180	8.1	1.1	135.2
1979	22,297,376	176,310	21,952	7.9	1.0	124.5
1980	22,359,500	171,439	22,583	7.7	1.0	131.7
1981	22,499,154	173,036	22,557	7.7	1.0	130.4
1982	22,646,153	172,359	22,715	7.6	1.0	131.8
1983	22,800,697	171,906	22,127	7.5	1.0	128.7
1984	22,954,868	167,789	22,260	7.3	1.0	132.7
1985	23,121,383	163,022	23,952	7.1	1.0	146.9
1986	23,259,342	160,277	22,557	6.9	1.0	140.7
1987	23,393,494	163,469	22,907	7.0	1.0	140.1
1988	23,526,195	160,419	23,127	6.8	1.0	144.2
1989	23,594,157	158,544	22,761	6.7	1.0	143.6
1990	23,657,623	146,975	20,551	6.2	0.9	139.8
1991	23,532,279	134,826	17,551	5.7	0.7	130.2
	Average population	Marriages	Divorces	Crude marriage rate (per 1000)	Crude divorce rate (per 1000)	Divorces per 1000 marriages

History of national minorities in SFR Yugoslavia

1940s and 1950s

The SFRY recognised "nations" (narodi) and "nationalities" (narodnosti) separately; the former included the constituent Slavic peoples, while the latter included other Slavic and non-Slavic ethnic groups such as Bulgarians and Slovaks (Slavic); and Hungarians and Albanians (non-Slavic). About a total of 26 known ethnic groups were known to live in Yugoslavia, including non-European originated Romani people.

Some of the largest non-Slavic ethnic minorities – Hungarians of Serbia, Germans (predominantly Danube Swabians), Kosovar Albanians and Istrian Italians – had been considered "troublesome" by Yugoslav authorities already in the first, interwar Yugoslavia, in part for supporting their ethnic interests and nation states as opposed to pan-Slavic ambitions during World War I.^[19]

^[20] Minority rights of non-Slavs were neither guaranteed nor upheld, but rather stifled if they had proved "anti-Yugoslavian". Education in Hungarian and German was limited, a number of Hungarian and German cultural societies had been banned in the Kingdom until the late 1930s, when the country drifted towards pro-axis positions. Nonetheless, local Germans collaborated with the Nazi occupation forces during World War II, and ethnic Hungarians generally welcomed the return of Bačka region to Hungary. The Yugoslav communist partisan movement was unpopular among those minorities, with the German Ernst Thälmann unit existing merely on paper and the Hungarian Petőfi unit numbering mere hundred men. After the occupation forces were pushed out of Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Germans, Hungarians and Italians were either imprisoned in labor camps (such as Goli Otok prison) or executed in summary executions.

After World War II, around 250,000 Germans and Italians were expelled or fled from the country, fearing reprisals, their property confiscated, in the events known as the expulsion of Germans after World War II and Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, the latter in the newly annexed areas in Istria and Rijeka, as well as from Dalmatia.^[21] Hundreds (several thousands, according to some estimates) were summarily killed in the process. The same befell Hungarians, who faced mass murders in Vojvodina. Modern estimates vary about 35 000 - 40 000 Hungarians killed. After the war, however, free education in the native languages of the minorities were guaranteed by the Communist constitution.

During the era of Tito–Stalin split, many Hungarians (who in 1953 made up around 25% of the population in Vojvodina^[22]) were sympathetic towards the Hungarian People's Republic, and the words of Radio Budapest spread among the villagers.

In 1950s, various ethnic stereotypes about specific nations in the country were commonly recounted and circulated in the media. Bulgarians were reported to be a "poor and backward minority", while in contrast, Czechs and Slovaks were "industrious and valuable minorities" for Yugoslavia. Some Czechs and Slovaks also emigrated after the war, but a "large number" of them returned after communists seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948.^[23]

See also

• Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Demographics of Croatia
• Demographics of North Macedonia
• Demographics of Serbia and Montenegro
  • Demographics of Montenegro
  • Demographics of Serbia
    • Demographics of Kosovo
• Demographics of Slovenia

Footnotes

1. Now referred to as Bosniaks