Problems ahead: Hungary’s population does not stop aging

The age distribution of the Hungarian population is getting worse. Hungary’s demographic situation has been for decades characterised by population decline and ageing, Portfolio.hu reports. Data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) reveals that while in 1990, there were 65 people above the age of 64 for 100 children (age 0-14), now, there are 128 older people for 100 children.

In recent years, the number of people under 14 years of age has significantly decreased. The number of people between 15 and 64 years of age has dropped slightly since 2001. In opposition, the number of people above 65 years of age has continuously increased since 1990. Hungary had a population of 9,804,000 people when the data was collected.

In Hungary, there has been a natural population decline since 1981, meaning that there are more deaths and fewer births.

Consequently, the number of younger people within the labour force is decreasing, thus the economically active population composition shifts towards the older age groups. Both the increase in the retirement age and increasing the years of compulsory education have influenced the processes, mentioned earlier, in population growth.

In 1990, the economically active population consisted of 2.7 million people. In subsequent years, their number dropped significantly, but in 2011, the number was above 4 million again (4.5 million people).

The economically active population of Hungary consists of 4,754,000 people, and that number is 5.4% higher than in 2011.

Today, the economically active population is 48% of the whole population of Hungary which is the highest ratio it has been since the Regime Change in Hungary.

Due to the economic growth in the country, new workplaces were created thus the number of people employed increased.

The growing number of people between 60-64 and the increasing retirement age contributed to the increased number of those who are above 60 years of age and are part of the economically active population (257,000 people).

Even though the number of people of the working age decreased by 3.7%, the number of economically active people increased by 5.4%, and the number of people employed also increased by 14%.

The number of people who work besides studying also increased. In recent years, the number of full-time students who are also working has risen by 8.3% (43,000 people). There are also 36,000 high schoolers who are employed, and the number of people employed within the age group of 20-24 increased by 16% (293,000 people), even though the number of people within this age group decreased.

Source: www.portfolio.hu