Serbia lost more than 600,000 inhabitants since 1992

BELGRADE - Serbia has a negative natural increase since 1992, and since then it has lost more than 600,000 inhabitants. All this affects the disrupted age structure, said on Friday the head of the Department of Demography of the Republic Institute for Statistics of Serbia Gordana Bjelobrk.

"Every year Serbia loses a municipality of 35,000 inhabitants," said Bjelobrk in the TV show "Okruzenje" (Environment), produced by the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in South-Eastern Europe — CDRSEE — and added that Serbia has more old people, and young people here do not want or cannot give birth.

"If they decide to give birth, the average number of children per woman is 1.4, and should be 2.1, only to ensure the population renewal," said Bjelobrk.

She said that, unfortunately, average age of Serbs is 46 years, and every fourth citizen is older than 65 years.