How many people live in Kosovo, and who they are

It sounds like a simple question and isn’t quite, because the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (ASK) publishes two figures for the same census. Here’s what each one means, how the population has changed since 2011, and who lives in Kosovo according to how people describe themselves. For a traveller it has a practical use, which is knowing what languages you’ll hear and where.

The two figures from the 2024 census

The counted figure is 1,585,566. In the north, though, the count was so thin that ASK also calculates an estimated population for those four municipalities, which takes the total to 1,602,515. In Zvečan the gap runs from 434 to 2,867 residents. ASK’s tables don’t say why so few were counted there, and I’m not going to guess at the reasons. The honest approach is to give both and say which is which, and that’s what I do across all my Kosovo guides.

Fewer people than in 2011

ASK counted 1,739,825 people in 2011, so the census population has fallen. Some municipalities have grown sharply, such as Fushë Kosovë next to Pristina, up from 34,827 to 63,949, while others have shrunk, such as Deçan and Podujevë. The full list, with both figures, is in municipalities of Kosovo. Kosovo has 366,595 households and a density of 147 people per km², over the 10,905 km² of how big Kosovo is. The most populous of its seven regions of Kosovo is Pristina, with 511,307 people counted.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Pristina before prices climb.

Who lives in Kosovo

According to the census communities table, 1,454,963 people identify as Albanian. Then come Serbs (36,652), Bosniaks (26,841), Turks (19,419), Ashkali (16,207), Egyptians (10,581), Gorani (9,140) and Roma (8,730). By mother tongue, 1,485,170 people speak Albanian and 55,168 Serbian, but note that this table uses the population including the estimate, so you can’t add it to the other one.

That mix of communities shows up clearly in the Constitution, which makes Albanian and Serbian official and gives Turkish, Bosnian and Romani official status at municipal level. What that means for getting by is covered in Kosovo language. On religion, Islam is the majority faith, with Orthodox and Catholic minorities, as I explain in Kosovo religion.

Where people live

Just over half, 50.18%, live in urban areas. The city of Pristina has 143,469 people and its region 511,307. The municipality of Pristina alone counts 227,466, so roughly one resident in seven lives there. Prizren, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Gjakova and Peja follow, and I compare them in cities in Kosovo.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Pristina and choose by the reviews.

Overnight guests compared with residents

To get a sense of scale, ASK recorded 762,836 overnight guests in 2025, under half the population. Of those, 463,092 came from abroad, and 10,569 from the UK. Albania sent the most, 116,444, followed by Germany with 52,602 and Switzerland with 40,941. Spain, for comparison, sent 4,469, so British guests outnumbered Spanish ones by more than two to one. Bear in mind that ASK only counts people staying in registered accommodation, from hotels and motels to guesthouses. Kosovo Police, in figures published by the same agency, logged 7,465,625 entries by foreign nationals at the border in 2025. Those are entries rather than people, but they show why overnight guests are only part of the picture.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Pristina before prices climb.