Numerous opportunities and difficulties that have befallen Bosnia and Herzegovina in recent years have almost completely changed its demographic picture.
From a country where the younger population and multi-member families predominated, Bosnia and Herzegovina is turning into a society of older people with one- or possibly two-member households. Data published in the document “Demography 2024.” The BiH Statistics Agency shows that in thirty years, the average age of women increased by 10.2 years, and that of men by 9.5 years.
Analysis of households
Namely, in the document “Demography 2024.” it was stated that, according to the 1981 census, the average age of a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 30.5 years, and the average age of a man in the same period was 28.7 years, while, according to the 2013 census (the last population census of BiH), the average age of a woman was 40.7 years, and a man was 38.2 years. When it comes to comparing data from the 1991 and 2013 censuses, it is evident that in those 22 years, the average age of women in this country increased by 5.7 years, and that of men by 5.3 years.
In the mentioned document, the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented an analysis of households according to the number of members according to population censuses from 1948 to the last census in 2013. From the analysis, it is evident that the picture of households changed over the years, and in 1948, families with eight members or more were among the most numerous, i.e. they made up about 20 percent of the total population, followed by those with seven to six members (also about 20 percent) and those with five members (15 percent). During this period, very few single people (below 10 percent) and households with two members lived in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Almost the same structure was recorded during the population census in 1953, when a slightly larger number of families with four and five members was recorded. The population census from 1961 already indicates a decrease in the number of families with eight members and more, as well as those with seven members, while in this period the number of families with three, four and five members is increasing. The next population census was conducted ten years later (in 1971) and compared to the initial year in 1948, the structure of households is already significantly different because in this period there was a significant decrease in families with seven or more members, while the number of those with four members increased.
How many members were there?
The number of single households and those with two members remained at almost the same level (about 20 percent) throughout that period. In 1981, households with four and five members predominated in this country (about 40 percent in total), while the number of single people and those with six members was almost equal (about 10 percent). The census from 1991 shows that at that time there was a slight increase in single households, while the number of those with seven or more members was reduced to around five percent.
In the next 22 years, the number of single households increased to almost 20 percent, the 2013 census showed, while the total number of those with five, six, seven or more members fell below 20 percent.
On the other hand, according to the 2013 census, almost 50 percent of households had two or three members, writes Večernji.ba
