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BiH Atlas
NumbersBrojevi

The country in numbers.

Every figure names its source and its year. The 2013 census is the last full count; the Agency for Statistics of BiH publishes yearly vital statistics and mid-year estimates. Where the draft's numbers did not match the official tables, they were corrected and the correction logged.

3,531,159
residents, 2013 census
Agency for Statistics of BiH
3,422,000
mid-2023 estimate
mid-2023 estimate, Agency for Statistics of BiH
1.18
children per woman
2023, Agency for Statistics of BiH (World Bank's model estimate for 2022 is 1.48)
78
years life expectancy
2024, World Bank; men 74.7, women 81.1
1948 to 2013

Who lives here, census by census

Yugoslav censuses 1948 to 1991 and the BiH census of 2013. 'Bosniaks/Muslims' reflects the changing official label: 'undeclared Muslims' (1948), 'Yugoslavs, undeclared' (1953), 'Muslims (ethnic)' (1961), 'Muslims in the sense of a nation' (1971 to 1991), 'Bosniaks' (2013). The 1961 row's group counts exceed the published total by the Albanian count, an inconsistency in the source tabulation.

CensusTotalBosniaks/MuslimsSerbsCroatsYugoslavs
1948 Census2,565,277788,403 (30.7%)1,136,116 (44.3%)614,123 (23.9%)n/a
1953 Census2,847,790891,800 (31.3%)1,264,372 (44.4%)654,229 (23%)n/a
1961 Census3,277,948842,248 (25.7%)1,406,057 (42.9%)711,665 (21.7%)275,883 (8.4%)
1971 Census3,746,1111,482,430 (39.6%)1,393,148 (37.2%)772,491 (20.6%)43,796 (1.2%)
1981 Census4,124,2561,629,924 (39.5%)1,320,644 (32%)758,136 (18.4%)326,280 (7.9%)
1991 Census4,377,0331,902,956 (43.48%)1,366,104 (31.22%)760,852 (17.39%)242,682 (5.55%)
1996 UNHCR3,919,9531,805,910 (46.1%)1,484,530 (37.9%)571,317 (14.6%)n/a
2013 Census3,531,1591,769,592 (50.11%)1,086,733 (30.78%)544,780 (15.43%)2,570 (0.07%)
Vital statistics

Births and deaths since 1947

Compiled from the Agency for Statistics of BiH by way of Wikipedia's demographics tables. Rows from 2019 onward differ from BHAS final bulletins by up to about 1.5 percent; 2024 and 2025 are preliminary first releases. Population figures are the compilation's own series and run below BHAS mid-year estimates (BHAS: 3,422,000 for 2023).

Live births and deaths per year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1947 to 2025024k49k73k97k122k194719631978199420092025war 1992 to 95censuspeople per year
Reading the curve
Births fell below deaths for the first time around 2007 and have stayed there. The gap in 1992 to 1995 is missing data, not a real drop to zero; registration collapsed during the war.
Preliminary rows
2024 and 2025 are first releases and will move slightly when the Agency publishes finals. The total fertility rate has been below 1.3 since 2019 by the Agency's own series.
Census 2013, final results

Religion and language, 2013

Religion
Religion, 2013 census51%
  • Muslim (Islam)50.70%
  • Serbian Orthodox30.75%
  • Roman Catholic15.19%
  • Other religions1.15%
  • Agnostic or atheist1.10%
  • Not declared or no answer1.12%
Mother tongue
Mother tongue, 2013 census53%
  • Bosnian52.86%
  • Serbian30.76%
  • Croatian14.60%
  • Other Languages1.57%
  • No Answer / Undeclared0.21%
15.4%
0 to 14 years
2013 census, Agency for Statistics of BiH
70.39%
15 to 64 years
2013 census, Agency for Statistics of BiH
14.22%
65 years and over
2013 census, Agency for Statistics of BiH
Peaks and rivers

Geography, for scale

Highest peaks (metres)
Maglić2,386Border with Montenegro (Sutjeska National Park)
Volujak2,336Dinaric Alps
Čvrsnica2,228Herzegovina
Prenj2,155Herzegovina (often called the 'Himalayas of Bosnia')
Vranica2,112Central Bosnia
Treskavica2,086Near Sarajevo
Bjelašnica2,067Olympic Mountain (Sarajevo)
Jahorina1,916Olympic Mountain (Sarajevo)
Rivers (total length, km)
Sava990Danube River (Black Sea Basin)
Neretva225Adriatic Sea Basin
Drina346Sava River
Bosna271Sava River
Vrbas250Sava River
Una212Sava River

The Sava's 990 km is its whole course; about 300 km form the northern border.

Sources and verification

Fact-checking corrected the 2013 religion shares (Islam 50.70%, not 51.33%), the 1981 census total, the 1991 Albanian count, the country's area (51,209 km²), and replaced an age pyramid that did not sum to the census total.