Boycott of the population census in 2011 had an impact on the budget allocations for the municipalities. Considering the disproportionately lower number of people compared to the real number, almost all municipalities with Serbian majority receive less money from the Government of Kosovo. Mayor of Gracanica municipality, Vladeta Kostic, recently requested from the Kosovo Government and the international community holding of the census in that municipality. Kostic says that the extraordinary census is required because the budget allocations for Gracanica municipality are counted on the basis of 10 600 inhabitants (as stipulated by 2011 census), while in reality about 25 thousand people live in Gracanica municipality. “In case the extraordinary census will not be held by 2021, we will face big difficulties in functioning. I think that the Ministry of Finance and the government, primarily in Pristina, should find a way to overcome this period,” says Kostic.
According to the last census from 2011, in Kosovo live 1.8 million people, out of which 91% are Albanians, 3.4% Serbs, and the rest are other communities. The next census is scheduled for 2021.
