Demographics of Kosovo

2011 Census

The final results of the 2011 census recorded Kosovo excluding North Kosovo as having 1,739,825 inhabitants. ECMI "calls for caution when referring to the 2011 census", due to the boycott by Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo and the partial boycott by Serb and Roma in southern Kosovo. The total population number was below most previous estimates. The census enjoyed considerable technical assistance from international agencies and appears to have been endorsed by Eurostat; it was, however, the first full census since 1981, and not one of an uninterrupted series. The results show that there were no people temporarily resident in hotels or refugee camps at the time of the census; that out of 312,711 conventional dwellings, 99,808 (over 30%) were unoccupied; and that three municipalities designed under the Ahtisaari Plan - Klokot, Novo Brdo, and Štrpce to have Serb majorities in fact had ethnic Albanian majorities (although their municipal assemblies have Serb majorities).

Population

The 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey, conducted by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics and rejected by Belgrade, estimated the population between 1.8–2.0 million.

Kosovo currently has the youngest population in Europe, with an estimated fertility rate of 2.4 children per woman. As recently as 1990, Kosovo's population structure resembled those of countries like Haiti, and was in stark contrast to the rest of Serbia and other European countries. In recent years, however, Kosovo's population growth rate has begun to slow and its birth rate has decreased.

Vital statistics

In 2009, 34,477 births were registered, 34,240 of whom were born alive, while 237 were born dead. The vitality ratio was 9. Ratio of dead births (fetal deaths) in 1000 births was 6.9. The age group of mothers was as following: 25–29 years age group with 35.1%, 20–24 years old age groups with 26.4%, age group 30–34 years with 23.3%, and other age group compose 15.2% of the total number of births. The average age of women who have children born in 2009, is 27.7 years. Under the weight of children born in health institutions, the majority of infants with weight is 3000-3499 grams or 31.4% from 3500 to 3999 gr. 23.7%, from 2500 to 2999 gr. 12.7%, etc. Live babies born weighing less than 1000 gr. constitute only 0.3%. Under education, mothers with primary school dominate the top with 44.9% of secondary but not tertiary and university with 7.2%, etc.

Frequent names in 2009 for girls were Erza (114 times) and Suela (108 times) while for boys was the names Leon (159 times) and Leart (124 times).

Population estimates in the table below may be unreliable since the 1990s. Besides, births and deaths exclude territories with a Serbian majority.

Marriages and divorces

In 2009, 20,209 marriages were registered. The average age of couples was 29.5 years. (men–31 and women–28). Prizren ranked first with 1,720 marriages or 8.5%, followed by Pristina with 1,643 or 8.1%, Podujeva with 1,302 or 6.4%, etc. According to the education, to male dominates the secondary education by 75.3%, and dominates the secondary education with 64.5%.

Administrative divisions

Kosovo is administratively subdivided into seven districts, and 38 municipalities. With the current estimation on population, Kosovo ranks as the 150th largest country in the world based on how populous it is.

Ethnic groups

The official results of the censuses in Kosovo after World War II are tabulated below. The proportion of Albanians was below 70% until 1961, but increased to 81.6% in 1991. The figures for Albanians in the 1991 census were estimates only, since that census was boycotted by most Albanians. Similarly, the figures for Serbs in the 2011 census omit those in North Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zubin Potok, and Zvečan (North Kosovo), while the number of Serbs and Romani in the rest of Kosovo is also deemed unreliable, due to the partial boycott.

Ethnic groups by municipality

The results of the census 2011 of ethnic groups in municipalities are tabulated below.

The 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey by Statistical Office of Kosovo found an ethnic composition of the population as follows:

A most comprehensive (October 2002) estimate (for the 1.9 million inhabitants) for these years:

During the Kosovo War in 1999, over 700,000 ethnic Albanians, around 100,000 ethnic Serbs and more than 40,000 Bosniaks were forced out of Kosovo to neighbouring Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia. After the United Nations took over administration of Kosovo following the war, the vast majority of the Albanian refugees returned. The largest diaspora communities of Kosovo Albanians are in Germany and Switzerland accounting for some 200,000 individuals each, or for 20% of the population resident in Kosovo.

Many non-Albanians – chiefly Serbs and Romani – fled or were expelled, mostly to the rest of Serbia at the end of the war, with further refugee outflows occurring as the result of sporadic ethnic violence. The number of registered refugees is around 250,000. The non-Albanian population in Kosovo is now about half of its pre-war total. The largest concentration of Serbs in the province is in the north, but many remain in Kosovo Serb enclaves surrounded by Albanian-populated areas.

Languages

As defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are official languages in Kosovo. According to the 2011 Census, almost 95% of the citizens speak Albanian as their native language, followed by South Slavic languages and Turkish. Due to North Kosovo's boycott of the census, Bosnian resulted in being the second-largest language after Albanian. However, Serbian is de facto the second most spoken language in Kosovo.

Health

Harvard Medical School and NATO published a study on the impact of the conflict on Kosovo health system in 2014. The data in the table below are from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics.

Migration

According to a 2015 report by Geoba.se, Kosovo's current net migration rate is at –3.72, ranking Kosovo 197th, due to the ongoing political and economic crisis.

Religion

The country has no official religion. The constitution establishes Kosovo as a secular state that is neutral in matters of religious beliefs and where everyone is equal before the law and freedom to belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed.

The results of the 2011 census gave the following religious affiliations for the population included in the census:

These figures do not represent individual sects operating in Kosovo such as Sufism or Bektashism which are sometimes classified generally under the category of "Islam."

The Serb population is largely Serbian Orthodox. The Catholic Albanian communities are mostly concentrated in Gjakova, Prizren, Klina and a few villages near Peć and Vitina.

Kosovo War refugees

The total list of countries in which the refugees took refuge and in what numbers:

abroad:

other countries in which Kosovars took refuge:

Internally displaced persons

According to CIA, there are currently (as of 2013) 17,300 internally displaced persons, most of whom are Serbs displaced during the Kosovo War.