One in four people living in Kosova was born between 1997 and 2012, making Gen Z the country’s largest generation, according to data from the 2024 census by the Kosova Agency of Statistics.

Gen Z accounts for 25.2 percent of residents, ahead of Millennials at 21.5 percent and Gen X at 20 percent. Gen Alpha, born from 2013 onward, makes up 17.3 percent, followed by Baby Boomers at 13.9 percent and the Silent Generation at 2.1 percent.

That gives Kosova the largest share of Gen Z of any country in Europe. Across most of the continent, older generations still dominate. A map based on European Commission data found that no European country had Gen Z as its biggest generation.

The gap is striking. In Italy, Gen Z made up 14.6 percent of the population in 2023. In Poland, the figure was 15.2 percent.

The census also confirmed Kosova as the youngest population in Europe. The average age stands at 34.8 years, well below the EU median of 44.5.

But the numbers also show a country that is ageing fast. In 2011, the average age was just under 30. Since then, the share of children aged 0 to 14 has fallen from 28 to 22 percent, while residents aged 65 and over rose from 7 to 11 percent.

The smaller size of Gen Alpha compared to Gen Z reflects falling births. Kosova’s fertility rate stood at 1.87 children per woman in 2024, below the replacement level of 2.1.

Emigration has added to the shift. The resident population fell to about 1.59 million, down 7.9 percent from 1.74 million in 2011.

The census, the first nationwide count since 2011, was carried out in April 2024 at a cost of around €10.7 million. It also found that half of Kosova’s residents now live in urban areas, up from 38 percent in 2011.