Serbia recorded a negative birthrate in 2019. Last year, only six cities and municipalities had positive birthrate, meaning more births than deaths.
From 2009 to 2019, the population decreased by about 360,000 and the annual population decrease of about 36,000 people leads to the conclusion that a municipality, the size of Bečej, disappears every year, said the State Statistical Office.
The estimated population of Serbia last year was 6,982,604 people.
Demographer Danica Santic says that for two years there has been a slight upward trend in the number of newborns – in 2016 and 2017, around 160, and a slightly higher number is expected for 2018.
“That is good, however, it is not enough, because the death rate increases every year. Serbia is losing 37,000 inhabitants on annual basis”, Santic points out.
Santic also states that, according to the latest statistics from the State Statistical Office, Serbia’s population dropped below seven million, which has not been recorded in recent history. Last year, 63.000 babies were born, while 103.000 people died, a trend across the region, according to Santic.
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The ageing process is another factor to be worried, as life span has been extended compared to the past.
“Societies do not know what to do with the elderly population. Japan has decided for the first time in history to open the door to immigrants – there are not enough newborns and working-age people, and the death rate is high”, Santic said.
The average age in Serbia is 43 years and the average married couple has 1.48 children.
Santic points out that Serbia is one of the countries with the oldest population in the world, citing as a contrasting example Africa, with an average age being 19.
The Statistical Office states that the largest number of children, 19,598, were born to women aged 30 to 34. The average age of mothers at birth is 30 years, while the average age of mothers at first birth is 28.6 years. In urban settlements, the average age of the mother is 30.8 and in rural 28.3.
In 2019, 36,321 marriages were registered in Serbia, 0.8% more than the previous year, while the number of divorces, in the same period, grew by almost 8%.
(B92, 15.01.2020)
https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2020&mm=01&dd=15&nav_category=12&nav_id=1642235
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