In the period from 2009. by 2019. BiH lost about 400,000 inhabitants, with negative natural increment and mass eviction, especially young people. This was pointed out during the promotion of the Proceedings “Demographic Change in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2013. until 2024. years”, the Academy of Sciences and Arts (ANU) of BiH, with the fact that more than half of citizens from BiH today live outside this country.
– Political instability, feeling of uncertainty and economic uncertainty further strengthens the internal intention – it was said during the promotion of the proceedings, which brings a thorough analysis of key demographic developments in the country in the last decade.
Chronic unemployment
– Our research shows that the municipalities formed after the Dayton Agreement, which fall in extremely underdeveloped according to socio-economic indicators, records a significant reduction in the population. The causes are multiple – from chronic unemployment and poor infrastructure to lack of a youth perspective. These factors also cause negative natural growth and emigration, creating a vicious circle of demographic and economic stagnation. If local communities are emergent and do not initiate long-term rural development measures, many of these areas will face a complete disappearance of the population – said Academicik Mirko Pejanović.
The collection was regulated by academician Mirko Pejanović and prof. dr. Melika Husić-Mehmedović, and the promoters of publication, in addition to Pejanović, were also professors Adnan Efendić and Pavle Mijović. They pointed out the urgency of solving demographic issues in BiH and defining sustainable public policies.
– Demographic changes are not only statistics. They shape our future. BiH faces losses of a young, educated population, which long-term affects the labor market, the health care system and the social structure – prof. dr. Adnan Efendić.
He pointed out the economic causes and the consequences of migration, and stated that spatial inequalities and unemployment and low salaries are the main triggers of youth departure.
Migration management
– Change in the structure of the population is already affected by the labor market, the aging of the population and the general quality of life. They are becoming more pronounced internal and seasonal migration, so it is necessary to urgently implement active migration policies that will prevent the departure and encourage the return, because otherwise the consequences for society and economics will be long-term and serious – Efendić said.
According to the data from the proceedings, BiH recorded a negative natural increase since 2009. year, and until 2022. That trend reached -6.7 per 1,000 inhabitants. Between 2010 and 2019. The country left more than 400,000 people. Young people from 20 to 29 years old, so the average age of the population with 39.6 increased to 42.5 years.
– without a strategic approach to migration management, including the development of immigration policies, we will face a demographic breakdown – warned, with a message that demographic revitalization is one of the most important challenges of modern BiH, writes Avaz
