The data for this dataset come from Yugoslav statistical yearbooks covering the period from 1948 to 1991:

• Stastički godišnjak Jugoslavie 1991, pp. 131, 441, 444, 463
• Stastički godišnjak Jugoslavie 1986, p. 117
• Stastički godišnjak Jugoslavie 1981, p. 113, 410
• Stastički godišnjak Jugoslavie 1971, pp. 75, 334
• Jugoslavija 1918-1988. Stastički godišnjak, pp. 38-50, 417.

Additional data come from the 1991 census, which was comprehensively analyzed and published by the Federal Statistical Office. Although the official census results appeared in printed volumes, many detailed tables remained unpublished and existed only as internal documentation. The materials were later supplemented with methodological explanations, and in 1998 the Office released the results and historical comparison data electronically on CD-ROM. The data from this CD-ROM were used for the creation of the tables.
A key limitation of the 1991 census is that the majority of the Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija was not enumerated, with similar gaps in the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo. To address this, the Federal Statistical Office produced population estimates for these areas, resulting in two types of data: (1) actual enumerated population and (2) estimated figures marked with “P” ("Projected"). These estimates were prepared by Dr. Dušan Breznik and Mr. Goran Penev from the Center for Demographic Research, based on the 1981 census.

Further data were obtained from the World Bank’s "World Development Indicators," which provide data from 1960 to 2023; the relevant files were downloaded on 24 October 2024 and 13 November 2024.