In 2022 there were 149 511 persons who changed residence, i.e. moved permanently from one to another place (settlement) in the Republic of Serbia. The average age of persons who changed residence was 35.4 years.
In 2022 there were 149 511 persons who changed residence, i.e. moved permanently from one to another place (settlement) in the Republic of Serbia. The average age of persons who changed residence was 35.4 years (35.7 for men and 35.1 for women).
Looking at the regions of the Republic of Serbia, Beogradski region and Region Vojvodine had a positive migration balance in 2022.
In 2022, in the Republic of Serbia, most of the persons moved from one municipality/city to another within the same area (36.1%), and the smallest number of persons moved from one settlement to another within the same municipality/city (30.1%).
Out of 25 areas in the Republic of Serbia, the largest number of migration movements was recorded in the territory of Beogradska oblast, 54 819 (36.7%) immigrants and 51 112 (34.2%) emigrants. Beogradska, Južnobačka, Severnobačka, Sremska, Šumadijska, Nišavska and Južnobanatska oblast recorded positive migration balance, while in 18 areas the migration balance was negative.
Observed at the level of municipalities/towns, 46 municipalities/towns had positive migration balance in 2022, while in the rest of 122 municipalities/towns it was negative.
From the economic activity point of view, 61.1% of migrants are dependents, 30.7% are active and the proportion of them having personal income is 8.2%.
Migration movements in the Republic of Serbia, by regions 2018–2022
Over 2018–2022 Beogradski region and Region Vojvodine had positive migration balance. In Beogradski region, on annual level, it amounted to about 5 500 persons, while in Region Vojvodine it amounted to about 1 000 persons.
Over 2018 – 2022, the number of emigrants, relative to immigrants, constantly grew in the Region Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije, meaning that this region looses annually, only based on the mechanical component (internal migrations), approximately 3 500 inhabitants.
Region Južne i Istočne Srbije over 2018 – 2022 had a negative value of migration balance, which on average amounts annually to about 3 000, which influences the decrease in the number of inhabitants of this region.
Table1. Persons who changed residence in the Republic of Serbia, by territory of immigration/emigration, 2022
Immigration
Emigration
Migration balance
Population that moved within an area
Total
From another area
Total
To another area
From municipalities/cities of the same area
From another settlement of the same municipality/city
Internal population migration is an annual survey covering the main demographic data on persons who have changed residence, i.e. have moved permanently from the previous place (settlement) of permanent residence to another place (settlement) in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The Ministry of Interior is in charge of data collection for persons who have changed residence.
As laid in the Law on Residence of Citizens (“Official Gazette of the RS “, number 87/2011), residence is “the place where a citizen has settled down with the intent to live in permanently, i.e. the place where is the centre of her/his activities, professional, economic, social and other relationships that prove her/his permanent link with the place she/he has settled in “.
Migration balance of population is the difference between the number of immigrated and emigrated population in a territory.
Starting from 1998 the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has not at disposal and may not provide available certain data relative to AP Kosovo and Metohia and therefore these data are not included in the coverage for the Republic of Serbia (total).
