Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is once again lagging behind the countries of the region and it is already certain that the census will not be conducted in 2023 when it was planned.
Political turmoil
Our country already does not have accurate data on the number of inhabitants, since all available data speak of a mass departure, sociologists warn.
Sociologist Amer Osmic mentioned that due to the political turmoil in our country, we cannot be optimistic when it comes tothe adoption of the law on the census and that this represents an enormous loss for BiH.
”According to the ten-year cycles according to which population censuses are conducted, we should conduct a new census in 2023 in order to be able to follow a certain type of population trends in relation to 2013,” stated Osmic.
In that way, we would get more precise data because, as Osmicstates, according to many types of research and estimates, the situation, when it comes to the population, is significantly different from the data we have from 2013.
”Migrations, mortality, but also a very bad negative natural increase have significantly affected the population in BiH,” noted Osmic.
The chances of a census in 2023 are minimal.
Working group
”It is a very complex process, especially from the demographic aspect, and requires at least a year to a year and a half of very intensive preparations with teams. Unfortunately, as far as I know, we are far from any preparations, so my predictions, as things stand now, are that we will not be able to hold elections every 10 years,” Osmic emphasized.
In 2019, the Agency for Statistics of BiH, after receiving a task from the Council of Ministers to initiate activities on the preparation of the Draft Law on Population Census in BiH, formed a working group to draft the text of this law.
”The letter of the Council of Ministers of BiH does not state the deadlines for the execution of the task,” the Agency for Statistics of BiH told.
The working group of the Agency for Statistics of BiH for drafting the text of the law on the census in BiH drafted the text of the law and submitted it to the entity institutes for opinion.
Croatia and Serbia
According to the census conducted by Croatia in 2021, it was recorded that the number of inhabitants decreased compared to 2011 by almost 400 thousand. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Serbia has postponed the census, and it will be realized in October this year, Avaz writes.
E.Dz.
