Demographics of Kosovo
| Demographics of Kosovo | |
|---|---|
Population pyramid of Kosovo in 2022 | |
| Population | 1,585,566 (2024) |
| Growth rate | 0.68% (2024) |
| Birth rate | 14.4 per 1,000 pop. (2024) |
| Death rate | 7.2 per 1,000 pop. (2024) |
| Life expectancy | 76.7 years (2011) |
| • male | 74.1 years (2011) |
| • female | 79.4 years (2011) |
| Fertility rate | 1.87 children born/woman (2024) |
| Infant mortality rate | 24.9 per 1,000 births |
| Net migration rate | -0.4 per 1,000 pop. (2024) |
| Age structure | |
| 0–14 years | 27.2% |
| 15–64 years | 66.1% |
| 65 and over | 6.7% |
| Sex ratio | |
| Total | 1.007 male(s)/female |
| Nationality | |
| Nationality | noun: Kosovar/Kosovan(s) adjective: Kosovar |
| Major ethnic | Albanians (91.8%) (2024) |
| Minor ethnic | Serbs (2.3%), Bosniaks (1.7%), Turks (1.2%), Ashkali (1%) and others |
| Language | |
| Official | Albanian |
| Spoken | Albanian (93.67%) languages of the minorities (6.33%) |
The Kosovo Agency of Statistics monitors various demographic features of the population of Kosovo, such as population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Censuses, normally conducted at ten-year intervals, record the demographic characteristics of the population.
According to the last census of the April 2024 by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, there were 1,588,566 inhabitants, of which 795,552 are men (50.08%) and 790,014 are women (49.92%). The same year, US CIA World Factbook estimate put the country's population at 1,977,093. According to the first census conducted after the 2008 declaration of independence in 2011, the permanent population of Kosovo was 1,739,825.
Kosovo is a fairly ethnically and linguistically homogeneous country. The 2024 census shows that ethnic Albanians make the overwhelming majority of Kosovo, with 91.8% of the population, while minorities include Serbs (2.3%), Bosniaks (1.7%), Turks (1.2%), Ashkali (1%) and other ethnicities all less than 1%.
The official languages of Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian. Albanian is the native language for 93.67% of the population, while minority languages are also officially recognized in certain municipalities, depending on their ethnic makeup. The main religions of Kosovo are Islam (93.49%), Eastern Orthodoxy (2.31%) and Roman Catholic (1.75%). The average urbanization of Kosovo is at 50.18% with a growing trend.
Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe. The average age is 34.8 and median age is 32, as of 2024. In 2008, half of its population was under the age of 25 (United Nations Development Programme data) and more than 65 percent of the population was younger than 30 (government data). According to UNICEF, approximately 26% of Kosovo’s population is aged 0–18. This categorization is consistent with the definition provided in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which considers every person below the age of 18 to be a child.