The population of Kosovo has decreased significantly over the past decade - from 1.8 million to 1.5 million people, according to the preliminary results of the national census.
The first estimates show that over 1.5 million people live in Kosovo, announced the director of the National Statistics Agency, Avni Kastrati.
The number may have been skewed by a boycott by the Serbian population in the north of the country.
"The census, despite the challenges and complexity it faced, was conducted with great success," added the announcement, quoted by "KoSSev".
The census began on April 5 and was due to end on May 17. Due to the requests of some municipalities, the process was extended until May 24.
In 2010, the country had about 2.2 million inhabitants, but there is mass emigration in search of work abroad, mostly in the countries of the European Union.
Census officials said they would be able to confirm the extent of the Serb boycott once the data collected was processed.
The approximately 100,000-strong Serbian community boycotted the previous population census in 2011. /BGNES
