Perplexing trends: Fewer Romani but more foreigners in Hungary?

After examining the Hungarian Central Statistical Office’s data (KSH) regarding the 2022 census, one dichotomy strikingly stands out: the number of Romani has seemingly dropped in comparison to the penultimate census results, while the quantity of foreigners have surged. Does this mean that the Roma population has been on the decline?

Number of Romani in 2011 versus 2022

As Telex reported, almost 315 thousand people identified themselves as Roma in 2011. If we compare this figure to the result of the last census carried out in 2022, we see a striking decline: only 209,909 individuals identified themselves as members of the Roma community. Does this mean that in this 11-years interval almost 105,000 Romani left Hungary? Probably not. The key to this phenomenon might be more obvious than we think.

Read more: Hungary proud on high Roma employment levels

What is behind the “decrease”?

As we have come to the conclusion, it is highly unlikely that this many Romani had left the country in under 11 years. There must be other possible explanations of the aforementioned trend. As Telex points out, the number of respondents who refused to answer nationality-related questions is worryingly high. Although it is impossible to draw any direct conclusions, the fact that Hungary’s leading party coalition opts for a rather nationalist way to approach the ethnicity issue may have influenced the respondents’ answers when filling up the forms. In other words, the majority of ethnic minorities may believe that the government favours Hungarian people over them, whom they deem somewhat privileged in that sense. When it comes to the Roma population, Ágnes Kende sociologist has indicated the following in her article: Romani “are being segregated at school, are having a hard time finding an apartment, are denied to enter clubs (…), one way or another, they are discriminated by the society”. Taking this aspect into consideration, it is not surprising that many Romani try to conceal their identity in the public eye in order not to face any discriminative treatment.

The bright side of the census

Despite the significant setback of the number of Romani who are willing to identify themselves as such, foreigners are becoming more open to answering the census’s questions regarding their nationality. This results in the potential growth of the number of self-identified immigrants. To sum up, we can witness a proliferation of their number in the past 20 years. There are approximately 217 thousand foreigners residing in Hungary, HSCO states. However, the phenomenon in question is quite surprising, taking into account the rather anti-foreigner propaganda of the Fidesz-ruled government. At the same time, we must note that, due to the Ukrainian war, the number of Ukrainians residing in Hungary went through a serious incrementation.

Read more: Foreigners flocking to Hungary: a safe haven for expats?