Hungarian population decreasing while the number of foreigners increasing

Despite the Hungarian government’s efforts, the number of emigrants kept on increasing between 2001 and 2017. According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office’s data, nearly 400,000 Hungarian citizens left the country, and many foreign people arrived in recent years. By 2070 the population of the country would decrease from 10 million to 6 million.

According to hvg.hu, the Central Statistical Office’s recently published data includes the numbers of divorces, giving births, marriages, ageing, mortality, and emigration. The latest statistics are examining the Hungarian situation since the year 2000.

The number of marriages has been increasing since 2010. In 2016 nearly 51,800 couples got married which means a 45.8 percentage increase. In 2017 the number of marriages decreased to 50,600. In Hungary, nearly one million citizen lives in partnership. The number of divorces also decreased from 24,000 to 18,000.

The number of newborn children stagnates, but the age of giving birth changes rapidly. Women without higher level education become mothers by their age of 22, and women with higher level education give birth to their first child at the age of 29-30. Although fewer children are born than in 2010. The percentage of giving birth dropped to 84% from 92%. The percentage of giving birth to a second child also decreased from 78% to 67%. Good news is that the percentage of giving birth to a third child increased from 27%

to 35%.

The percentage of elderly people also increased from 13% to 17%. By 2070 this rate could increase to 29%. The number of residents older than 80 years also increased from 260,000 (1990) to 412,000.

The number of foreign people keeps on increasing. Last year their number was 151,000 which increased to 162,000 this year. More than 242,000 residents who were born here but lived abroad for at least one year returned to Hungary in the last two years.

The population of Hungary would slowly decrease to 9 million residents in the next few years. If these statistics do not change, then experts expect a population of 6 million residents by 2070.

Source: hvg.hu