Shrinking country: Serbia struggles with population decline

Uros Trainovic remembers when his small mining village in eastern Serbia was a vibrant home to 200 families, had a school of its own, a doctor and a shop.

How times have changed. Now, 60-odd years later, it's a ghost village with just eight residents.

The transformation of Blagojev Kamen is not unique in a country that experienced years of war and sanctions in the 1990s following the break-up of Yugoslavia. In a twist of historical irony, one of the causes behind those years of war was the idea of creating a Greater Serbia out of the ashes of the former Yugoslavia.

Near-empty villages with abandoned, crumbling houses can be seen all over Serbia a clear symptom of a shrinking population that is raising acute questions over the economic well-being of the country. The decline is happening so fast it's considered a national emergency and the United Nations has stepped in to help.

"This village used to be full of people, I used to go to school here," the 71-year-old Trainovic recalls.

"It is such a pity and so sad that everybody left ... now there are only few of us and there are no young people any more." However it's measured, the numbers look stark.

According to the World Bank, Serbia's population of just below 7 million is projected to fall to 5.8 million by 2050. That would represent a 25 per cent fall since 1990.

The Serbian government says the Balkan country is effectively losing a town each year, and that as many as 18 municipalities have fewer than 10,000 people: "We are 103 people less each day."
"One of my sons is in Germany and the other one is in Austria," he said. "They visit often but they have nothing to return to."