And this is only the official number. The mayor estimates that the real number of residents in the district may have already exceeded 100,000.
As of June 23, 2026, there are 89,041 residents registered with permanent residence in the Bratislava district of Ružinov. The district has crossed the 89,000 mark for the first time in history. This is reported by TASR, citing the registry of the Ministry of Interior.
Fourth in the country — and almost second
The mayor of the district, Martin Chren, says that Ružinov is currently the fourth largest administrative unit in Slovakia by population. Only Bratislava and Košice (if these cities are counted as a whole) and the Petržalka district are ahead. If Bratislava and Košice were not divided into districts, Ružinov would be the second largest municipality in the country, right after Petržalka.
The growth is stable and noticeable. At the end of 2025, the registry listed 88,541 people, which is 999 more than a year earlier. In total, the district adds over a thousand new residents each year, reports Bratislavský večerník.
How many people actually live here
Official statistics only count those who have trvalý pobyt, meaning permanent registration. But this is not everyone:
- people who live in the district without permanent registration;
- foreigners with long-term residence permits. This category includes many Ukrainians, and they are not included in the official numbers.
Therefore, the actual number of residents, according to the mayor's assumption, could reach over 100,000. If you live in Ružinov without registering with the Ministry of Interior registry, you do not exist for the statistics. At the same time, you create a very real burden on transport, schools, and hospitals.
This is already a problem for the district, not just a record
Population growth puts pressure on infrastructure: the district needs places in schools, more public transport capacity, and the development of social and medical services. An additional challenge is the aging population. About 16,000 residents of Ružinov, approximately 18% of the official number, are people over 65 years old.
This is a 180-degree turn for the district. After peaking in 1980, when 84,486 residents lived here, the population decreased until 2011. Only 68,574 people remained then. Since then, Ružinov has been growing non-stop for fifteen consecutive years, and it seems this trend is not going to slow down.
