Serbia (RS)

ECRML

Signed

2005

Ratified

2006

In Force

2006

FCNM

Signed

2001

Ratified

2001

In Force

2001

Country Description

Serbia regularly conducts national language censuses, with the last one taking place in 2022. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia showed that in 2022, 84.4% of the Serbian population considered Serbian their mother tongue, followed by Hungarian (2.6%), Bosnian (2.2%), Romani (1.2%), and Albanian (1%). There is no systematic data on deaf sign language users in Serbia, thus the common estimate of 0.01% of the population is applied, coming up to approximately 7 000. A 2021 paper by Bajić et al. (in the links below) showed that Serbian Sign Language (SZJ) “remains pushed to the margins of education“.

Country Overview

Inhabitants (in 2025)

6 567 783

(Source)

Year of last language census

2022

(Source)

Pan-National Official Language(s)

ECRML-Recognised Languages

Non-ECRML Languages

Explore European Census data at the Eurobarometer

National ECRML Reports National FCNM Reports

Pan-National Official Language(s)

This category only includes languages that are official throughout the whole country (with the exception of Belgium) - languages that are e.g. regionally 'co-official' are not listed here but can be identified in the categories below wherever a relevant legal document is listed. A future update could include lists of co-official languages, as well. To increase their visibility, recognised Sign Languages are always listed as official languages even if they are not yet technically official. The data on legal recognition was aggregated from legal documents and official sources. Wherever possible, the national number was taken from a national census or recent study/official estimate – sources are listed. The endangerment level is adopted from Ethnologue and further estimates of endangerment can be found on the individual language profile (e.g. by clicking on 'Italian').

Language	Endonym	Geographic Area	Source	Legal Recognition	Legal Document	Source	National Number	Bases for Calculation	Estimation Date	Source	Endangerment Level
Serbian Slavic	Srpski	Whole country		1992 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) / 2006 (Republic of Serbia	LAW ON OFFICIAL USE OF LANGUAGE AND LETTERS / ZAKON O SLUŽBENOJ UPOTREBI JEZIKA I PISAMA		5 607 558 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022		1 (National)
Serbian Sign Language (SZJ) Sign Language	Srpski znakovni jezik	Whole country		2015	Law on the Use of Sign Language / Zakon o upotrebi znakovnog jezika		Approx. 7 000 (not a census)	Deaf Sign Language Users	2021		5 (Developing)

ECRML-Recognised Languages

This includes languages recognised under the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages (ECRML). The data on legal recognition was aggregated from legal documents and official sources. Wherever possible, the national number was taken from a national census or recent study/official estimate – sources are listed. The endangerment level is adopted from Ethnologue and further estimates of endangerment can be found on the individual language profile (e.g. by clicking on 'Czech').

Language	Endonym	Geographic Area	Legal Recognition	Legal Document	National Number	Bases for Calculation	Estimation Date	Endangerment Level	ECRML level
Albanian Albanoid	Shqip	Bujanovac, Kovačica, Novi Sad, Preševo, ...	2006	ECRML	65 475 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Bosnian Slavic	Bosanski	Novi Pazar, Tutin, ...	1991	Official Language Use Law No. 45, Article 3, Statutory language of provincial identity	145 329 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	4 (Educational)	Part II & Part III
Bulgarian Slavic	Bălgarski ezik	Dimitrovgrad, ...	1991	Official Language Use Law No. 45, Article 3, Statutory language of provincial identity	7 939 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Bunjevac Slavic	Bunjevački	Sombor, Subotica, ...	2006	ECRML	3 319 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	Unlisted	Part II
Croatian Slavic	Hrvatski	Subotica, ...	2009	Autonomous Province Vojvodina Statute, Article 26, Statutory provincial language	12 048 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Czech Slavic	Čeština	Kovin, ...	2006	ECRML	1 317 (given, as 'Czechs')	Ethnicity	2022	5* (Dispersed)	Part II
German Germanic	Deutsch	Bačka Palanka, Sombor, Subotica, ...	2006	ECRML	1 389 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	4 (Educational)	Part II
Hungarian Uralic	Magyar nyelv	Ada, Bačka Topola, Beočin, Bosilegrad, Kanjiža, Kovačica, Kovin, Kula, Mali Iđoš, Novi Sad, Plandište, Senta, Sombor, Srbobran, Subotica, Temerin, Čoka, ...	2009	Autonomous Province Vojvodina Statute, Article 26, Statutory provincial language	170 875 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Macedonian Slavic	Makedonski jazik	Pančevo, ...	2006	ECRML	8 375 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	Unestablished	Part II
Romani Indo-Aryan	Romani ćhib	Koceljeva, Surdulica, ...	2006	ECRML	79 687 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	Balkan Romani - 5* (Developing), Sinte Romani - 5* (Developing), Vlax Romani - 6a* (Vigorous)	Part II & Part III
Romanian Romance	Limba română	Kovačica, Kovin, ...	2009	Autonomous Province Vojvodina Statute, Article 26, Statutory provincial language	21 477 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Rusyn / Ruthenian Slavic	Rusîn'skyj jazyk	Bečej, Žabalj, Kula, Novi Sad, Šid, ...	2009	Autonomous Province Vojvodina Statute, Article 26, Statutory provincial language	8 725 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	4 (Educational)	Part II & Part III
Slovak Slavic	Slovenský jazyk	Bač, Boljevac, Kovačica, Novi Sad, Šid, ...	2009	Autonomous Province Vojvodina Statute, Article 26, Statutory provincial language	38 584 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	2 (Provincial)	Part II & Part III
Ukrainian Slavic	Ukrainska mova	Inđija, Kula, ...	2006	ECRML	1 527 (given)	Mother Tongue	2022	Unestablished	Part II & Part III

Non-ECRML Languages – Source Overview

Languages marked with ✓ appear in that source. Languages listed in multiple sources may have differing data – see the detail tables below.

Language	Ethnologue	ELP
English	✓
French	✓
Montenegrin	✓
Romano-Serbian	✓
Russian	✓
Turkish	✓

Non-ECRML Languages (Ethnologue)

Languages listed with an 'established status' in Ethnologue. The data on legal recognition, national number, and endangerment level was taken from Ethnologue, reflecting its current state and gaps of knowledge.

Language	Endonym	Geographic Area	Legal Recognition	Legal Document	Source	National Number	Bases for Calculation	Estimation Date	Endangerment Level
English Germanic	English	/	/	/	/	4 200	Users	2020	4 (Educational)
French Romance	Français	/	/	/	/	276 000	Users	2018	4 (Educational)
Montenegrin Slavic	Crnogorski	Raška and Zlatibor districts	/	/	/	1 980	Users	2022	5* (Dispersed)
Romano-Serbian Indo-Aryan	Romani-Serbikani chhib	Srem district	/	/	/	95 000	Users	2020	6a* (Vigorous)
Russian Slavic	Russkiy	/	/	/	/	1 400 000	Users	2012	4 (Educational)
Turkish Turkic	Türkçe	Kosovo, widespread	/	/	/	23 800	Users	2021	5* (Dispersed)

Recognised Minorities

FCNM Status	Religious Groups	Ethnic / National Groups	Linguistic Groups	Comments	Source for Groups and Comments (Name)	Source for Groups and Comments (Link)	National Reservations & Declarations	Source for Reservations & Declarations
In force (2001)	/	Albanians, Bosniacs/Muslims, Bulgarians, Bunyevtsi, Croats, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Ruthenians, Roma, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Vlachs, small minority communties (Slovenes, Macedonians, Czechs, Poles, Jews, Russians, Gorantsi, Turks, Hashkalis/Egyptians, ...) (1st Report, concerning the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) / Albanians, Ashkali, Bosniacs, Bulgarians, Bunjevci, Vlachs, Goranci, Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Hungarians, Macedonians, Muslims, Germans, Roma, Romanians, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croats, Czechs (Annex to the 2nd Report, concerning the Republic of Serbia)/	Albanians, Bosniacs/Muslims, Bulgarians, Bunyevtsi, Croats, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Ruthenians, Roma, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Vlachs, small minority communties (Slovenes, Macedonians, Czechs, Poles, Jews, Russians, Gorantsi, Turks, Hashkalis/Egyptians, ...) (1st Report, concerning the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) / Albanians, Ashkali, Bosniacs, Bulgarians, Bunjevci, Vlachs, Goranci, Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Hungarians, Macedonians, Muslims, Germans, Roma, Romanians, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croats, Czechs (Annex to the 2nd Report, concerning the Republic of Serbia)	"13. The Advisory Committee reiterates its call to the authorities to consider abolishing the potentially restrictive criteria for citizenship contained in the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities. The citizenship criterion contained in the legal definition of a national minority refers to groups of citizens who can enjoy the status of a national minority in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia. In other words, in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia, the status of a national minority cannot be recognised for groups of persons who possess features such as language, culture, national or ethnic affiliation, origin or religion, by which they differ from the majority of the population, but who do not have citizenship and are not in a long-term and strong relationship with the territory of the Republic of Serbia. This primarily refers to groups of refugees, migrants and persons living in the Republic of Serbia based on economic activities.The fact that such groups of persons do not enjoy the status of a national minority does not mean that they and the persons who belong to them do not enjoy the right to free expression, preservation and development of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity in the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the highest international standards of human rights. In the legal system of the Republic of Serbia, the majority of minority rights that are individually enjoyed and exercised, especially in terms of the use of languages and letters, as well as in terms of education, are not reserved exclusively for citizens." (5th Report)	First Report (2002, submitted by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) / Annex to the Second (2008) / Fifth Report (2022, submitted by the Republic of Serbia pursuant to Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities)	/	/

Serbia

Serbia (RS)

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