Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Demographic features of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Population pyramid of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024
Population3,269,516 (2025 est.)
Growth rate+0.37% (2025 est.)
Birth rate8.2 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate10.1 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Life expectancy77.98 years
 • male75.02 years
 • female81.15 years
Fertility rate1.36 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate5.21 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years13.18%
65 and over16.22%
Sex ratio
Total0.95 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.07 male(s)/female
Under 151.07 male(s)/female
65 and over0.42 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityBosnian
Major ethnicBosniak (50.1%)
Minor ethnicSerb (30.7%), Croat (15.4%)
Language
OfficialBosnian, Serbian, Croatian
SpokenBosnian, Serbian, Croatian

2.42.733.33.63.94.24.5194019601980200020202040millionBosnia and Herzegovina Total Population 2.12.22.32.42.52.62.72.819901995200020052010201520202025millionFederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Total Population 1.11.21.31.41.51.619901995200020052010201520202025millionRepublika Srpska Total Population 3040506070809019901995200020052010201520202025thousandBrčko District Total Population 123456195019601970198019902000201020202030Total fertility rate (Whole country)Total fertility rate (Federation of BiH)Total fertility rate (Republika Srpska)Total fertility rate (Brčko District)Bosnia and Herzegovina TFR

Vital statistics

Source: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Notable events in Bosnian demography:

  • 1992-1995 – Bosnian War
Year Mid-year 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 2,532,000 84,600 38,900  45,700 33.4 15.4 18.0
1948 2,581,987 90,700 41,600 49,100 35.1 16.1 19.0 647,112
1949 2,641,990 98,200 42,200  56,000 37.2 16.0 21.2 669,152
1950 2,662,010 102,680 35,991 66,689 38.6 13.5 25.1 5.17 691,192
1951 2,721,009 92,330 46,358 45,972 33.9 17.0 16.9 4.51 713,232
1952 2,790,991 112,216 34,817 77,399 40.2 12.5 27.7 5.33 735,272
1953 2,863,124 110,373 41,199 69,174 38.5 14.4 24.2 4.84 757,312
1954 2,916,007 115,854 35,158 80,696 39.7 12.1 27.7 4.93 765,462
1955 2,973,986 110,866 40,513 70,353 37.3 13.6 23.7 4.59 773,612
1956 3,025,000 111,561 38,320 73,241 36.9 12.7 24.2 4.48 781,761
1957 3,076,006 102,649 36,830 65,819 33.4 12.0 21.4 4.02 789,911
1958 3,126,012 110,332 30,123 80,209 35.3 9.6 25.7 4.22 798,061
1959 3,185,005 108,123 32,507 75,616 33.9 10.2 23.7 4.06 806,211
1960 3,240,010 110,499 33,360 77,139 34.1 10.3 23.8 4.06 814,360
1961 3,291,684 108,076 29,413 78,663 32.8 8.9 23.9 3.91 822,510
1962 3,338,505 106,826 31,087 75,739 32.0 9.3 22.7 3.86 838,877
1963 3,385,326 104,240 29,161 75,079 30.8 8.6 22.2 3.75 855,245
1964 3,432,147 101,147 29,846 71,301 29.5 8.7 20.8 3.62 871,612
1965 3,478,968 101,351 27,814 73,537 29.1 8.0 21.1 3.61 887,979
1966 3,525,789 97,689 25,138 72,551 27.7 7.1 20.6 3.46 904,347
1967 3,572,609 92,972 26,195  66,777 26.0 7.3 18.7 3.28 920,714
1968 3,619,430 89,134 26,031 63,103 24.6 7.2 17.4 3.14 937,081
1969 3,666,251 87,687 27,805  59,882 23.9 7.6 16.3 3.05 953,448
1970 3,713,072 79,296 26,355 52,941 21.4 7.1 14.3 2.74 969,816
1971 3,759,893 82,694 24,915 57,779 22.0 6.6 15.4 2.83 986,183
1972 3,797,523 82,068 26,844 55,224 21.6 7.1 14.5 2.76 998,220
1973 3,835,154 77,896 24,672 53,224 20.3 6.4 13.9 2.57 1,010,257
1974 3,872,784 77,833 23,661 54,172 20.1 6.1 14.0 2.52 1,022,293
1975 3,910,414 78,844 25,571  53,273 20.2 6.5 13.6 2.51 1,034,330
1976 3,948,045 79,061 25,178  53,883 20.0 6.4 13.6 2.47 1,046,367
1977 3,985,675 75,669 24,821  50,848 19.0 6.2 12.8 2.32 1,058,404
1978 4,023,305 73,306 26,016  47,290 18.2 6.5 11.8 2.21 1,070,441
1979 4,060,935 71,120 25,370  45,750 17.5 6.2 11.3 2.10 1,082,477
1980 4,098,566 70,928 26,115  44,813 17.3 6.4 10.9 2.06 1,094,514
1981 4,136,196 71,031 26,222  44,809 17.2 6.3 10.8 2.03 1,106,551
1982 4,160,280 73,375 26,775  46,600 17.6 6.4 11.2 2.09 1,105,958
1983 4,184,363 74,296 29,999 44,297 17.8 7.2 10.6 2.12 1,105,366
1984 4,208,447 74,539 29,046 45,493 17.7 6.9 10.8 2.13 1,104,773
1985 4,232,531 72,722 28,966  43,756 17.2 6.8 10.3 2.08 1,104,181
1986 4,256,615 71,203 29,127  42,076 16.7 6.8 9.9 2.04 1,103,588
1987 4,280,698 70,898 29,382  41,516 16.6 6.9 9.7 2.03 1,102,995
1988 4,304,782 70,711 29,555 41,156 16.4 6.9 9.6 2.03 1,102,403
1989 4,328,866 66,809 30,383  36,426 15.4 7.0 8.4 1.92 1,101,810
1990 4,352,949 66,952 29,093  37,859 15.4 6.7 8.7 1.93 1,101,218
1991 4,377,033 64,769 30,680  34,089 14.8 7.0 7.8 1.87 1,100,625
1992*
1993*
1994*
1995*
1996 3,368,597 46,594 25,152 21,442 13.8 7.5 6.4 1.88 862,840
1997 3,398,264 48,061 27,875 20,186 14.1 8.2 5.9 1.95 866,251
1998 3,423,921 45,007 28,679 16,328 13.1 8.4 4.8 1.83 870,474
1999 3,445,172 42,464 28,637 13,827 12.3 8.3 4.0 1.73 874,188
2000 3,462,336 39,563 30,482 9,081 11.4 8.8 2.6 1.61 876,695
2001 3,478,679 37,717 30,325 7,392 10.8 8.7 2.1 1.54 879,484
2002 3,493,146 36,485 30,831 5,654 10.4 8.8 1.6 1.49 881,166
2003 3,498,291 34,691 32,018 2,673 9.9 9.2 0.8 1.42 879,547
2004 3,501,467 33,862 32,223 1,639 9.7 9.2 0.5 1.38 877,903
2005 3,503,634 33,233 33,925 -692 9.5 9.7 -0.2 1.36 875,167
2006 3,500,212 33,038 32,652 386 9.4 9.3 0.1 1.36 871,089
2007 3,498,023 32,801 34,392 -1,591 9.4 9.8 -0.5 1.35 867,212
2008 3,493,737 34,023 33,871 152 9.7 9.7 0.0 1.41 859,217
2009 3,491,327 34,449 34,709 -260 9.9 9.9 -0.1 1.43 851,596
2010 3,488,441 33,445 34,905 -1,460 9.6 10.0 -0.4 1.40 847,365
2011 3,484,154 31,694 34,820 -3,126 9.1 10.0 -0.9 1.33 843,765
2012 3,479,339 32,414 35,578 -3,164 9.3 10.2 -0.9 1.36 839,698
2013 3,473,826 30,551 35,379 -4,828 8.8 10.2 -1.4 1.30 832,872
2014 3,466,507 30,134 35,692 -5,558 8.7 10.3 -1.6 1.29 825,060
2015 3,456,500 29,647 37,876 -8,229 8.6 11.0 -2.4 1.28 815,928
2016 3,447,001 29,985 36,065 -6,080 8.7 10.5 -1.8 1.30 806,794
2017 3,437,453 30,061 37,453 -7,392 8.7 10.9 -2.2 1.31 797,851
2018 3,427,369 29,328 37,237 -7,909 8.6 10.9 -2.3 1.29 789,269
2019 3,415,752 28,192 38,237 -10,045 8.3 11.2 -2.9 1.26 781,299
2020 3,403,638 27,156 43,808 -16,652 8.0 12.9 -4.9 1.23 772,876
2021 3,378,821 26,993 49,682 -22,689 8.0 14.7 -6.7 1.24 763,709
2022 3,358,496 26,516 40,692 -14,176 7.9 12.1 -4.2 1.23 755,419
2023 3,345,818 26,294 34,983 -8,689 7.9 10.5 -2.6 1.23 748,332
2024 3,335,615 24,938 34,434 -9,496 7.5 10.3 -2.8

*No data for the period 1992–1995

Current vital statistics

Period Live births Deaths Natural increase
January—June 2024 11,142 17,274 -6,132
January—June 2025 10,831 18,162 -7,331
Difference -311 (-2.79%) +888 (+5.14%) -1,199
Source:

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 30.IX.2013):
Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 1 732 270 1 798 889 3 531 159 100
0–4 89 442 84 622 174 064 4.93
5–9 90 881 86 099 176 980 5.01
10–14 98 653 94 022 192 675 5.46
15–19 124 900 117 842 242 742 6.87
20–24 116 883 111 173 228 056 6.46
25–29 129 248 123 070 252 318 7.15
30–34 128 593 124 040 252 633 7.15
35–39 126 145 123 121 249 266 7.06
40–44 121 595 119 543 241 138 6.83
45–49 130 087 130 841 260 928 7.39
50–54 136 153 140 422 276 575 7.83
55–59 125 576 132 961 258 537 7.32
60–64 104 970 118 281 223 251 6.32
65–69 69 066 84 503 153 569 4.35
70–74 59 854 80 601 140 455 3.98
75–79 47 403 69 864 117 267 3.32
80–84 23 769 38 867 62 636 1.77
85+ 9 052 19 017 28 069 0.79
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 278 976 264 743 543 719 15.40
15–64 1 244 150 1 241 294 2 485 444 70.39
65+ 209 144 292 852 501 996 14.22

Vital statistics by entity

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Source: Institute for Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mid-year population Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1,000) Crude death rate (per 1,000) Natural change (per 1,000) Total fertility rate Female fertile population (15–49 years)
1991 2,720,074 42,426 18,332 24,094 15.6 6.7 8.9 1.92 696,784
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996 2,141,341 34,331 14,221 20,110 16.0 6.6 9.4 2.05 579,263
1997 2,161,442 34,304 16,120 18,184 15.9 7.5 8.4 2.06 581,215
1998 2,176,885 31,480 16,210 15,270 14.5 7.4 7.0 1.90 583,979
1999 2,189,576 27,964 16,108 11,856 12.8 7.4 5.4 1.70 586,234
2000 2,199,128 25,372 17,112 8,260 11.5 7.8 3.8 1.54 587,282
2001 2,208,263 24,018 16,891 7,127 10.9 7.6 3.2 1.47 588,612
2002 2,215,548 23,251 17,175 6,076 10.5 7.8 2.7 1.43 588,834
2003 2,222,079 23,168 18,259 4,909 10.4 8.2 2.2 1.42 588,042
2004 2,227,181 22,250 18,350 3,900 10.0 8.2 1.8 1.36 587,226
2005 2,231,764 21,934 19,293 2,641 9.8 8.6 1.2 1.35 585,319
2006 2,230,967 21,602 18,678 2,924 9.7 8.4 1.3 1.33 582,071
2007 2,231,548 21,715 19,428 2,287 9.7 8.7 1.0 1.35 579,026
2008 2,229,787 22,920 19,480 3,440 10.3 8.7 1.5 1.43 571,863
2009 2,229,072 22,913 20,022 2,891 10.3 9.0 1.3 1.44 565,074
2010 2,228,027 22,382 20,482 1,900 10.0 9.2 0.9 1.41 561,677
2011 2,226,011 21,228 20,208 1,020 9.5 9.1 0.5 1.34 558,911
2012 2,222,587 21,472 20,859 613 9.7 9.4 0.3 1.36 555,678
2013 2,219,131 20,145 20,465 -320 9.1 9.2 -0.1 1.29 551,251
2014 2,215,997 19,880 20,283 -403 9.0 9.2 -0.2 1.29 546,324
2015 2,210,994 19,358 21,703 -2,345 8.8 9.8 -1.1 1.26 540,354
2016 2,206,231 19,655 21,105 -1,450 8.9 9.6 -0.7 1.28 534,268
2017 2,201,193 19,824 21,689 -1,865 9.0 9.9 -0.8 1.29 528,096
2018 2,196,233 18,899 21,442 -2,543 8.6 9.8 -1.2 1.25 522,242
2019 2,190,098 18,019 22,024 -4,005 8.2 10.1 -1.8 1.21 516,595
2020 2,184,680 17,211 26,026 -8,815 7.9 11.9 -4.0 1.16 512,053
2021 2,168,602 16,873 29,086 -12,213 7.8 13.4 -5.6 1.15 506,760
2022 2,156,846 16,538 23,187 -6,649 7.7 10.8 -3.1 1.13 501,018
2023 2,150,054 16,174 20,361 -4,187 7.5 9.5 -1.9 1.12 496,545
2024p 2,144,748 15,883 20,484 -4,601 7.4 9.6 -2.2
2025p 2,138,121
Current vital statistics

Period Live births Deaths Natural increase
January—October 2024 12,728 16,686 -3,958
January—October 2025 12,519 16,976 -4,457
Difference -209 (-1.64%) +290 (+1.74%) -499

Republika Srpska

Source: Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics

Current vital statistics

Period Live births Deaths Natural increase
January—September 2024 6,191 10,736 -4,545
January—September 2025 5,915 10,618 -4,703
Difference -276 (-4.46%) -118 (-1.10%) -158

Brčko District

Source: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Statistics of the Brčko District BiH

Current vital statistics

Period Live births Deaths Natural increase
January—August 2024 523 788 -265
January—August 2025 503 733 -230
Difference -20 (-3.82%) -55 (-6.98%) +35

Marriages and divorces

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republika Srpska

Brčko District

Life expectancy at birth in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Period Life expectancy in
Years
1950-1955 53.67
1955-1960 58.46
1960-1965 61.93
1965-1970 64.73
1970-1975 67.57
1975-1980 69.87
1980-1985 70.72
1985-1990 71.95
1990-1995 70.13
1995-2000 73.61
2000-2005 74.81
2005-2010 75.53
2010-2015 76.53
2015-2020 77.18

Ethnic groups

According to data from the 2013 census published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks constitute 50.11% of the population, Bosnian Serbs 30.78%, Bosnian Croats 15.43%, and others form 2.73%, with the remaining respondents not declaring their ethnicity or not answering.

The census results are contested by the Republika Srpska statistical office and by Bosnian Serb politicians, who oppose the inclusion of non-permanent Bosnian residents in the figures.

The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, determined that the methodology used by the Bosnian statistical agency was in line with international recommendations.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is often linked to ethnicity, i.e. (with the exception of agnostics and atheists) most Bosniaks are Muslim, Serbs are Orthodox Christian, and Croats are Roman Catholic.

Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to ethnic group 1948–2013
Ethnic
group
Census 1948 Census 1953 Census 1961 Census 1971 Census 1981 Census 1991 Census UNHCR 1996 Census 2013 Change 1991–2013
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Bosniaks/Muslims 788,403 30.7 891,800 31.3 842,248 25.7 1,482,430 39.6 1,629,924 39.5 1,902,956 43.48 1,805,910 46.1 1,769,592 50.11 -133,364 +6.63pp
Serbs 1,136,116 44.3 1,264,372 44.4 1,406,057 42.9 1,393,148 37.2 1,320,644 32.0 1,366,104 31.22 1,484,530 37.9 1,086,733 30.78 -279,371 -0.44pp
Croats 614,123 23.9 654,229 23.0 711,665 21.7 772,491 20.6 758,136 18.4 760,852 17.39 571,317 14.6 544,780 15.43 -216,072 -1.96pp
Yugoslavs 275,883 8.4 43,796 1.2 326,280 7.9 242,682 5.55 2,570 0.07
Montenegrins 3,094 0.1 7,336 0.3 12,828 0.4 13,021 0.3 14,114 0.3 10,071 0.23 1,883 0.05
Roma 442 0.0 2,297 0.1 588 0.0 1,456 0.0 7,251 0.2 8,864 0.20 12,583 0.36
Albanians 3,642 0.1 3,764 0.1 4,396 0.1 4,925 0.11 2,569 0.07
Others/undeclared 23,099 0.9 27,756 1.0 28,679 0.8 36,005 1 63,263 1.5 80,579 1.84 58,196 1.5 110,449 3.13
Total 2,565,277 2,847,790 3,277,948 3,746,111 4,124,008 4,377,033 3,919,953 3,531,159

Languages

Bosnia's constitution does not specify any official languages; however, academics Hilary Footitt and Michael Kelly note that the Dayton Agreement states that it is "done in Bosnian, Croatian, English and Serbian", and they describe this as the "de facto recognition of three official languages" at the state level. The equal status of Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian was verified by the Constitutional Court in 2000. It ruled that the provisions of the Federation and Republika Srpska constitutions on language were incompatible with the state constitution, since they only recognised "Bosniak" and Croatian (in the case of the Federation) and Serbian (in the case of Republika Srpska) as official languages at the entity level.[citation needed]

As a result, the wording of the entity constitutions was changed and all three languages were made official in both entities. The three languages are mutually intelligible and are also known collectively as Serbo-Croatian. Use of one of the three varieties has become a marker of ethnic identity. Michael Kelly and Catherine Baker argue: "The three official languages of today's Bosnian state...represent the symbolic assertion of national identity over the pragmatism of mutual intelligibility".

All standard varieties are based on the Ijekavian varieties of the Shtokavian dialect (non-standard spoken varieties including, beside Ijekavian, also Ikavian Shtokavian). Serbian and Bosnian are written in both Latin and Cyrillic (the latter predominantly using the Latin script), whereas Croatian is written only in Latin alphabet. There are also some speakers of Italian, German, Turkish and Ladino. Yugoslav Sign Language is used with Croatian and Serbian variants.[citation needed]

According to the results of the 2013 census, 52.86% of the population consider their mother tongue to be Bosnian, 30.76% Serbian, 14.6% Croatian and 1.57% another language, with 0.21% not giving an answer.

Religion

According to the 2013 census, 50.7% of the population identify religiously as Muslim, 30.75% as Serbian Orthodox Christian, 15.19% as Roman Catholic, 1.15% as other, 1.1% as agnostic or atheist, with the remainder not declaring their religion or not answering. A 2012 survey found that 47% of Bosnia's Muslims are non-denominational Muslims, while 45% follow Sunnism. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is strongly linked to ethnicity.

Demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

3,378,821

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.18% (male 261,430/female 244,242)
15-24 years: 10.83% (male 214,319/female 201,214)
25-54 years: 44.52% (male 859,509/female 848,071)
55-64 years: 15.24% (male 284,415/female 300,168)
65 years and over: 16.22% (male 249,624/female 372,594) (2020 est.)

Median age

Total: 43.3 years
Male: 41.6 years
Female: 44.8 years (2020 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 5.32 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 5.44 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 5.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 77.74 years
Male: 74.76 years
Female: 80.93 years (2021 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2018)
People living with HIV/AIDS: Less than 500 (2018)
Deaths: less than 100 (2018)

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98.5%
Male: 99.5%
Female: 97.5% (2015 est.)

See also

Religion:

Groups:

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