In the absence of processed and published data from the Provincial Institute of Statistics of the SAP Vojvodina on the 1981 population census, we will also analyze the migration characteristics of the population of the municipality of Novi Bečej based on the 1971 data. According to migration characteristics, the entire population of the municipality can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of indigenous population, i.e., individuals born in a specific settlement within this municipality and have been residing in the same place since birth. The second group consists of individuals who have migrated to the settlement of their permanent residence from the areas within the same municipality and other municipalities of SAP Vojvodina, the SR Serbia, and other republics.
Out of the total population of the municipality, 22,145, or 69.8%, have been residing in the same place since birth. Among them, the indigenous population of Novi Bečej constitutes 51.3%, Novo Miloševo 28.4%, Kumane 15.5%, and Bočar 4.8%. Concerning the total population of settlements, in 1971, Novo Miloševo had the highest percentage of indigenous population (73.6%).
Among the residents who migrated to settled areas from the same municipality, i.e., from the municipality of Novi Bečej, there were a total of 1,677, or 5.3% of the total population of the municipality. Migrants from other municipalities in SAP Vojvodina and the SR Serbia accounted for 21.2%, while those from other republics constituted 3.7%.
The majority of the migrated population came from rural settlements, making up 19.2% of the total population of the municipality. Migrants from urban settlements accounted for 8.9%, and from mixed settlements, 2.1%.
The migration of population to settlements of permanent residence within the municipality did not occur evenly. Until 1941, a total of 2,282 individuals had migrated to settlements in the Novi Bečej subregion, which, in relation to the total population, constituted 7.2%. From 1941 to 1971, 7,302 individuals, or 23.01% of the total population of the municipality, migrated to settled areas. Mass migration of the population to settlements of permanent residence began after World War II, from 1946 to 1961. Afterward, this process significantly slowed down, and the number of migrants decreased. Bočar received the highest number of migrants from 1946 to 1952, totaling 599. During this period, families from passive and war-devastated regions of Yugoslavia replaced the evacuated German families. The absolute highest number of migrants from 1946 to 1966 was received by Novi Bečej, as the earlier center of the district and later as the central settlement of the municipality or subregion. As an administrative, educational, and economic center, especially an industrial center, Novi Bečej had the greatest gravitational power, attracting the largest number of inhabitants.
Out of the total population of 31,729 in 1971, 6,148 individuals, or 19.4%, were employed permanently outside agriculture. Of these, 1,217 individuals, or 19.8%, were living outside their place of residence. Novi Bečej had the highest number of such workers (37.4%), followed by Kumane (30.0%), Novo Miloševo (25.2%), and Bočar (7.4%).
In relation to the total number of non-agricultural workers in 1971, 413 individuals, or 6.7%, were temporarily working abroad. Of these, about 50% of migrant workers were from Novi Bečej, 37.5% from Novo Miloševo, and only 13.8%, or 57 workers, from Bočar and Kumane.
According to the initial published data from the 1981 population census, there were 548 workers temporarily employed abroad from the territory of the Novi Bečej subregion.