Since no official census has been taken since 1991, the precise population of Sarajevo cannot be known for certain. However the latest estimates from the Sarajevo Canton government, dating from December 2002 are generally thought to be fairly accurate. They put the total population of the city of Sarajevo at 297,399 residents and the number of people in the greater Sarajevo region at 401,118. A more recent unofficial estimate has the population of Sarajevo in late 2003 at 412,526.

According to the official government statistics, Sarajevo's population density is 2470.1 per square kilometer. The most densely populated part of Sarajevo is in the municipality Novo Sarajevo (7524.5 inhabitants per square kilometer), while the least densely populated is Stari Grad municipality (742.5 inhabitants per square kilometer).

Regarding the age structure of Sarajevo, the overwhelming majority of people are between 15 and 64 years of age. This group consists of 208,703 people, or a little over 70% of the total city population. When it comes to people 14 years of age or under and people over 65 years of age, the youth have a slight edge. There are 47,558 people under 14 years of age in Sarajevo, making up 16% of the overall population, compared to 41,138 people over 65 years of age who make up 13.8% of the total population. Novi Grad municipality has the highest percentage of citizens under 14 years of age in the city, at 17.4%, while 17.5% of Novo Sarajevo municipality's population is over 65 years of age. Overall, the city's population is slightly older than its surrounding areas or the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole.

The biggest ethnic group in Sarajevo are the Bosniaks, who with more than 230,000 people make up 77.4% of the city. They are followed by the Serbs, of which there are some 35,000 (12% of the city), and Croats with a population of 22,380 (7.5% of the total population). 9,283 people (3.1% of overall population) are classified as others. They most likely consist of Sephardi Jews, and Roma, along with a small number of foreign workers (Mostly of Chinese and African backgrounds).

The city's birth rate is 9.17 while the mortality is 8.10, resulting in a population growth rate of 1.07%. The greater Sarajevo area meanwhile has a 9.56 birth rate and 8.01 mortality rate, which makes for a population growth rate of about 1.55%. This would indicate a population of 303,797 in the city by December 2004, and a population of 413,649 in the metropolitan area. If current growth trends continue, the city's population should reach the pre-war population in less than 25 years. The metro area would do the same a bit sooner, in some 15 years. Depending on regional stability, immigration, and growth and development, it is not unreasonable to except the city's population to breach 1,000,000 inhabitants by the latter half of the 21st century.

See also

• Historical population of Sarajevo