The drastic decline in population in Serbia, every year a city less

If bad demographic trends continue, Serbia for 20 years will have about 6 million inhabitants, Gordana Bjelobrc, chief of the Demographics Department at the Serbian Institute of Statistics, tells Radio Free Europe.

“Already, every fifth resident in Serbia is over 65, and by 2014 it is projected to be every fourth. This is the worst, which is shrinking the generation that is able to reproduce”, Bjelobrc said.

According to the Statistics Institute, 6,982,604 people have been living in Serbia since 2019, bringing the population to below 7 million for the first time in the last 53 years.

According to official data in 2018, 63,975 babies were born in Serbia, while 101,665 people have died, thus continuing the negative natural growth, which has been happening for three decades.

Milan Knezevic, president of the Association of Small and Middle Enterprises of Serbia, says everything has to be changed for a better future from the start.

We must make the state an umbrella of a meaningful life for a people. I was also thinking about leaving, and I was financially secure. Like my son who has a magic degree in the economy. He wants to leave, not just for material reasons. One reason is material and the other is that we live in an unpredictable and disorderly place, where people don't see a long-term” perspective, Knezevic said.

According to local experts and UN research, in recent years Serbia has lost 37,000 people every year.

Gordana Bjelobk says that this means that if we take into account only the difference between birth and death, then we can say that a small town disappears every year.

Let's say a new Bechey less (v.j. City in Serbia). At least babies are born in eastern and southern Serbia. The main reasons for this is to reduce the number of women who are old enough to bear children and a large migration of the population that has continued for years and decades”, Bjelobrc points out.

The average number of children for a married couple in Serbia, according to national statistics, is 1,48, the average mother's age in the first child's birth is 28.4 years, while the average population age is 43.

When it says Serbia has one of the oldest populations in the world, it is most often taken as an example of Africa, where the average age is 19.

As for national policies, the basic measure on the population issue is an immediate payment for the first child in the amount of about 850 euros; for the second child, financial assistance about 2,000 euros divided from about 85 euros a month; for the third child about 11,000 euros; and for the fourth child about 18,000 euros in installments of 100 to 150 euros.

Unfortunately, for years we've avoided facing hate reality, and we've taken measures that won't say anything. These are just political phrases that do not encourage birth rates in the long-term”, says businessman Milan Knezevic.

Belgrade is the only region in Serbia to have marked population growth, but no Belgrade municipality does not have a positive natural growth.

Demographer Gordana Bjelobk claims it is important to continue with measures to increase nightness.

“to create a favourable environment in the economy and in the social field and for young people to decide to stay in our country. Just give them an opportunity to work and then everything will be better. Or, if they go, turn later or at least make a connection to their country”, Bjelobrc said.

Milan Knezevic, owner of a private company in Belgrade, believes that staying young people in Serbia is essential for those who start working.

The new business people are allowed to work for two or three years and when circulation increases, then to be taxed. In Serbia, people are publicly taxed”, Knezevic concluded.

Serbia's government announced at the beginning of 2019 that it will allocate about 5.5m euros for measures in terms of increasing population.