Births and deaths

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

Demography departmant and Health Statistics

Gordana Bjelobrk

Restricted from publication

5 Milana Rakića, Belgrade

gordana.bjelobrk@stat.gov.rs

+381 11 2412 922 ext: 280

Restricted from publication

Final results on the main demographic developments in the year of reference. The methodology onbirths and deths and reference data are in line with United Nations recommendations "Principles and recommendations for the Vital Statistics System", Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 205/2014. Also, methodology and data harmonized with the census methodology 2011 and 2022.

International Standard Classification of Occupations ISCO - 88 and ISCO - 08

International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems – 10th revision (ICD-10)

Sector for the labor market, health, demographic trends and the development of an integrated system of registers   

The Division of Demography and Health statistics

performs: tasks in the field of labor market statistics, demographic statistics and non-monetary health statistics; 
organizes and realizes the development of an integrated system of registers; methodological development, 
management and maintenance of the statistical business register and the register of classification units; analysis and integration of administrative 
and other data sources for the production of official and experimental statistics; cooperates intensively with relevant international institutions 
and participates in the work of international groups for social and business statistics and the application of administrative and other data sources in statistics.

Statistical concept and definitions  

Concept: Usually resident population 

Births

A live-born child is a child who shows signs of life (breathing, i.e. heart beating) after birth, even for short, independently on the duration of the pregnancy.

Stillborn

If a child is born, i.e. extracted from the mother’s body with no sign of life, i.e. if she/he does not breath or show any sign of life, such as heart beating or muscle movements, and was carried over 28 weeks (7 lunar months), she/he is considered a stillborn (late foetal death).

Deceased person is a person for who after live birth, the permanent stoppage of all vital signs/functions is registered.

Deceased infant is a child for whom after live birth, and before one year of age all vital signs have permanently stopped.

Cause of death. Data on cause of death are based on the concept of underlying cause of death. Underlying cause of death has been defined as (a) the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or (b) the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.

Death by violence is the result of accidents (all types of motor vehicles collision, falls, drowning, accidents caused by smoke, fire and flame, fire arms, etc.), suicides, homicides and other (violent death of undetermined intent, legal interventions and operations of war, complications of medical and surgical care).

Statistical national concepts and definitions 

Concept: Usually resident population 

Births

A live-born child is a child who shows signs of life (breathing, i.e. heart beating) after birth, even for short, independently on the duration of the pregnancy.

Stillborn

If a child is born, i.e. extracted from the mother’s body with no sign of life, i.e. if she/he does not breath or show any sign of life, such as heart beating or muscle movements, and was carried over 28 weeks (7 lunar months), she/he is considered a stillborn (late foetal death).

Deceased person is a person for who after live birth, the permanent stoppage of all vital signs/functions is registered.

Deceased infant is a child for whom after live birth, and before one year of age all vital signs have permanently stopped.

Cause of death. Data on cause of death are based on the concept of underlying cause of death. Underlying cause of death has been defined as (a) the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or (b) the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.

Death by violence is the result of accidents (all types of motor vehicles collision, falls, drowning, accidents caused by smoke, fire and flame, fire arms, etc.), suicides, homicides and other (violent death of undetermined intent, legal interventions and operations of war, complications of medical and surgical care).

Differences in statistical concepts and definitions: No differences  

Births and Deaths

Statistical population: According to usual residence

Births

Deaths

Republic of Serbia, Regions and Municipalities

Republic of Serbia Note: Since 1999, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia is not responsible for certain data for the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, so that they are not included in the coverage of the Republic of Serbia data (total).

Live births and Deaths - first reference year 1961

Live births and Deaths - reference periods at which series occur 1961-1997, 1998-2023

Live births and Deaths - reason for the breaks is that we have not data for AP Kosovo and Metohija from 1998

Not applicable.

Units of measure are absolute numbers, rates, percentage points and coeffients.

The reference period for births and deaths are the calendar year.

Law on Official Statistics

Eurostat Demographic Balance Data Collection (DEMOBAL) 

Eurostat Population Statistics data collection (POPSTAT) 

Eurostat Demography Nowcast 

Causes of Death - General Mortality datafile

Causes of Death - Stillbirths and Neonatal Death datafile

Weekly mortality

EUROSTAT/OECD/WHO Joint data collection on non-monetary health statistics

Law on Official Statistics published in "Official Gazette of RS", No. 104/09 (Articles 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49) аnd  No. 24/11 ensuring the confidentiality of data.

Not applicable.

01.07. Statistical release of Vital Events

25.12 Demographic yearbook

links

Users access the press release, publications and database of relevant statistics through a website.

yearly

Vital statistics, 2023 - online

Publication online:

Demographic yearbook, Statistical Yearbook of Serbia, Municipalities and regions of the Republic of Serbia, 

Statistical pocketbook of the Republic of Sebia, Monthly statistical bulltin, Live births and deaths - previous results.

Statistical release online:

Vital events, 2023 

Within the area Population sub-areas Births and Deaths are tables Natural population change, Live births and deaths by sex, Birtha, Deaths.

The protection and safety of micro-data is carried out according to the defined procedure.

The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS), as the responsible producer of official statistics, ensures the use of anonymised microdata on the basis of the submitted request.

Microdata can be submitted for scientific and research purposes as well as on the basis of an individual request in accordance with the Rulebook on the manner and procedure of data provision produced by the SORS as well as Article 48 of the Law on Official Statistics (Provision of Individual Data Without Identifiers, "Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", No. 104/09).  

Delivery of information at the request of the user is done in accordance with the Rules on dissemination of statistical data and services of the Republic Statistical Office and in accordance with Articles 39 and 43 of the provision on dissemination of data and information of the Law on Official Statistics ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia" No. 104/09 ).

Demographic yearbook, Statistics of births, Statistics of deaths.

Not applicable.

According to the European Statistical System, and according to the Quality Policy, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia seeks to harmonize fully the statistical production with the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP).

The Code of Practice of European Statistics was adopted by the European Statistical System Committee in 2005. The statistical authorities, which include the Commission (Eurostat), national statistical institutes and other national institutions responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, together with governments, ministries and the European Council, have committed themselves to compliance with this Code.

During the year being processed - current year - data are compared on a monthly basis. Also, it is compared with the data of the corresponding month of the previous year.

The results of the current year are compared with data from the previous and previous years. 

If there are significant differences in the data presented, the reasons for the resulting data differences are analyzed.

The main users of statistical data are government institutions, scientific institutions, individual requests, press, Non-Governmental Organizations, agencies and national organizations, international organizations etc.

They use statistics to improve their work and planning.

User satisfaction survey - last one was conducted 2023

Customer orientation is one of the general principles in dissemination procedures.

To identify the needs and level of satisfaction of users using the products and services of statistics, the SORS conducts every two years, the Customer Satisfaction Survey, whose results are published on the site.

Statistical data are fully produced in accordance with the plan and program of official statistics.

Overall accuracy

Births

Since the data on births expressed in two surveys SORS (first results and final results of data on births), which means that each case is recorded in the survey First results and then processed in the framework of survey on births, it is considered that the information on the final number of births for the reference year is reliable and accurate. 

Deaths

Since the data on deaths expressed in two surveys SORS (first results and final results of data on deaths), which means that each case is recorded in the survey First results and then processed in the framework of survey on deaths, it is considered that the information on the final number of deaths for the reference year is reliable and accurate. 

Surveys on births and deaths are conducted on the total population.

Surveys on births and deaths are conducted on the total population.

According to Art 4 (2) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014, each year Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data at national and regional level as described in Annex II and related standard reference metadata ( In the metadata structure definition defined for the Euro SDMX Metadata Structure) for the reference year within 12 months of the end of the reference year. 

Informationс on vital events of year T-1 were collected until april the 1^st of the year T; these data are disseminated at 1 July of year T.

Detailed data by sex, age and other characteristics for the demographic events of year T-1 are disseminated at 25 December of the year T.

Statistics on births and deaths are published in accordance with the pre-determined calendar of publications.

There is no special treatment of breaks in time series.

The practice is to write the following footnotes, when presenting the data on births and deaths for the Republic of Serbia for the period 1961-2023, which explain that data until 1997 refer to the territory of Serbia with region AP Kosovo and Metohija but, from the year 1998, data relate to territory Serbia without region AP Kosovo and Metohija.

Births and deaths:

The data are comparable from 1961 with the break in data series from 1998 (the data for Kosovo and Metohija are not available).

Statistics on births and deaths is the only source of data showing the number and structure of births and deaths in the Republic of Serbia.

The calculation of costs is based on material costs for printing and distribution of forms and the value of the number of hours spent by all employees in the work on these surveys sa well as costs of maintaining IT equipment. 

General revision policy of the Republic Institute for Statistics http:

In 1994 was completed the harmonization of vital statistics methodology with the methodology applied in the census 1991 and started its implementation in practice.

In 2005 we started to collect data on vital statistics according to the methodology that is harmonized with the methodology of the census, which was conducted in 2002.

In 2015 we started to collect data on vital statistics according to the methodology that is harmonized with the methodology of the census, which was conducted in 2011. 

The statistical surveys of births and deaths are implemented according to the methodology harmonized with UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2, Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament on European demographic statistics, Regulation (EU) No 205/2014.

Registers of births and deaths, electronic and in paper, are kept in registrars' offices of every particular area of births and deaths.

Data are collected monthly.

Liveborn and stillborn - paper and electronic form

Paper form

The Statistical Office compiles methodological instructions, establishes instruments for carrying out research, forms the codes needed for research, prepares and prints statistical forms and distributes them to regional departments. District departments distribute patterns to the reporting units on their territory, collect data, control the scope, precision and completeness of data, perform data entry, logical control and data correction.

Electronic form

The data files on the born Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government are sent to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia for all births registered during the year. The data are delivered via an electronic form, in accordance with the Procedure for Takeover and use of data from administrative sources for statistical purposes.

Deceased - paper form

The data collection ends with a tabulation program. Tabulation is the use of a program for tabulating data by predetermined indicators and represents the final data processing phase.

Based on detailed population data and other vital events, rates, indices, averages are calculated using certain calculation methods.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.