The Kingdom of Yugoslavia existed between its creation in 1918 until its occupation and partition by Axis powers in World War II. The first census in 1921 enumerated 11,984,911, while the second and last census in 1931 enumerated 13,934,038 people. While both censuses grouped ethnic groups according to their mother tongue, the latter did not record separate constituent nationalities and reported all "Serbo-Croato-Slovene" speakers as "Yugoslavs".

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia according to the 1921 census
  Serbs and Croats
  Serbs and Croats
  Slovenes
  Albanians
  Hungarians
  Romanians
Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia according to the 1931 census
  Serbs
  Croats
  Slovenes
  Unexplained, Religion Islam
  Germans
  Romanians
  Shqiptar (Albanians)
  Bulgarians
  Turks
  Hungarians
Kingdom of Yugoslavia's ethnic structure, 1918[1]
Ethnic group Number Percent
Serbs (including Montenegrins and some Macedonian Slavs) 4,665,851 38.8%
Croats 2,856,551 23.8%
Slovenes 1,024,761 8.5%
South Slavic Muslims 727,650 6.1%
Bulgarians[1] (including some Macedonian Slavs[2]) 585,558 4.9%
Other Slavs 174,466 1.5%
Germans 513,472 4.3%
Hungarians 472,409 3.9%
Albanians 441,740 3.7%
Romanians and Cincari[3] (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians) 229,398 1.9%
Turks 168,404 1.4%
Jews 64,159 0.5%
Italians 12,825 0.1%
Others 80,079 0.7%
Total 12,017,323 100%
1 Source: Banac, Ivo (1992). The National Question in Yugoslavia. Origins, History, Politics (2nd printing ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780801494932.
(The table represents a reconstruction of Yugoslavia's ethnic structure immediately after the establishment of the kingdom in 1918.)

Vital statistics (1919–1940)

Average population[4] Live births[4] Deaths[4] Natural change[4] Crude birth rate (per 1,000)[4] Crude death rate (per 1,000)[4] Natural change (per 1,000)[4] Total fertility rate[4]
1919 11,706,957 347,748 258,638 89,110 29.7 22.1 7.6 4.83
1920 11,881,764 422,267 250,090 172,177 35.5 21.0 14.5 4.79
1921 12,059,178 442,530 252,104 190,426 36.7 20.9 15.8 4.75
1922 12,239,245 420,910 254,478 166,432 34.4 20.8 13.6 4.70
1923 12,421,997 432,779 252,543 180,236 34.8 20.3 14.5 4.66
1924 12,607,480 442,835 254,527 188,308 35.1 20.2 14.9 4.62
1925 12,795,732 437,070 239,429 197,641 34.2 18.7 15.4 4.57
1926 12,986,796 459,035 244,761 214,274 35.3 18.8 16.5 4.53
1927 13,180,709 451,617 276,294 175,323 34.3 21.0 13.3 4.49
1928 13,377,523 437,523 272,606 164,917 32.7 20.4 12.3 4.44
1929[5] 13,577,272 452,544 286,249 166,295 33.3 21.1 12.2 4.40
1930 13,780,006 489,270 261,497 227,773 35.5 19.0 16.5 4.36
1931 13,982,000 470,275 276,840 193,435 33.6 19.8 13.8 4.31
1932 14,174,000 465,935 272,180 193,755 32.9 19.2 13.7 4.27
1933 14,369,000 452,229 243,717 208,512 31.5 17.0 14.5 4.22
1934 14,566,000 460,913 248,882 212,031 31.6 17.1 14.6 4.18
1935 14,767,000 441,728 248,978 192,750 29.9 16.9 13.1 4.14
1936 14,970,000 435,861 240,879 194,982 29.1 16.1 13.0 4.09
1937[6] 15,172,000 424,448 242,337 182,111 28.0 16.0 12.0 4.05
1938[7] 15,384,000 411,381 240,303 171,078 26.7 15.6 11.1 4.01
1939[8] 15,596,000 403,938 233,196 170,742 25.9 15.0 10.9 3.96
1940 15,811,000

Marriages and divorces (1919–1940)

Average population Marriages Divorces Crude marriage rate (per 1000) Crude divorce rate (per 1000) Divorces per 1000 marriages
1919 11,706,957 225,605 19.3
1920 11,881,764 185,954 5,687 15.7 0.5 30.6
1921 12,059,178 157,055 6,720 13.0 0.6 42.8
1922 12,239,245 131,776 6,548 10.8 0.5 49.7
1923 12,421,997 129,796 6,492 10.4 0.5 50.0
1924 12,607,480 114,896 5,508 9.1 0.4 47.9
1925 12,795,732 123,005 5,481 9.6 0.4 44.6
1926 12,986,796 124,249 4,940 9.6 0.4 39.8
1927 13,180,709 124,104 5,254 9.4 0.4 42.3
1928 13,377,523 121,334 5,580 9.1 0.4 46.0
1929 13,577,272 128,120 6,070 9.4 0.4 47.4
1930 13,780,006 138,322 5,826 10.0 0.4 42.1
1931 13,982,000 126,072 6,393 9.0 0.5 50.7
1932 14,174,000 111,059 5,231 7.8 0.4 47.1
1933 14,369,000 111,503 5,500 7.8 0.4 49.3
1934 14,566,000 99,704 5,520 6.8 0.4 55.4
1935 14,767,000 110,129 5,561 7.5 0.4 50.5
1936 14,970,000 109,528 5,022 7.3 0.3 45.9
1937 15,172,000 117,717 6,547 7.8 0.4 55.6
1938 15,384,000 121,605 6,466 7.9 0.4 53.2
1939 15,596,000 123,817 7,103 7.9 0.5 57.4
1940 15,811,000

Languages

The following data, grouped by first language, is from the 1921 population census:

Based on language, the Yugoslavs (collectively Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and other South-Slavic groups in the kingdom) constituted 82.9% of the country's population.

Religious groups

Class and occupation

References

  1. ^ a b Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. Archived 2 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine Cornell University Press, 1988. pp. 49–53, 58. ISBN 978-0801494932
  2. ^ Per Banac himself, the Macedonians were "Bulgarians in the common struggle against Serbian and Greek hegemonism, but within the Bulgarian national project, they were increasingly becoming separate regional community." The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. Cornell University Press, 1988. p. 327. ISBN 978-0801494932
  3. ^ RÉSULTATS DÉFINITIFS DU RECENSEMENT DE LA POPULATION DU 31 JANVIER 1921 (in Serbo-Croatian and French). Sarajevo: Opšta državna statistika. 1932. p. 3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "2-1. Kretanje stanovništva 1921–1990 - Jugoslavija". Demografska statistika 1990 (PDF). Belgrade: Savezni zavod za statistiku. 1992. ISSN 0084-4357. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Statistical Yearbook of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia,1929" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Statistical Yearbook of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia,1937" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Statistical Yearbook of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia,1938-1939" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Statistical Yearbook of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia,1940" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. ^ a b Group of Authors (1997). Istorijski atlas (1st ed.). Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva & Geokarta, Belgrade. p. 91. ISBN 8617055944.
  10. ^ ""Краљевина Југославија дефинитивни резултати пописа становништва од 21 јануара 1921 год.", Сарајево, Државна Штампарија, 1932". p. 3. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  11. ^ Group of Authors (1997). Istorijski atlas (1st ed.). Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva & Geokarta, Belgrade. p. 86. ISBN 8617055944.
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