Drama: number of births in a 20-year low in Hungary
The number of births fell by 17 percent in June compared with the same month in the previous year, while deaths went down by 5.9 percent, according to preliminary data published by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Friday.
Meanwhile, the number of marriages went down by 14 percent with 4,946 couples tying the knot. Fully 6,040 children were born in June, while there were 8,863 deaths.
The natural population loss was 2,823 people compared with 2,166 in June 2023. Fully 81,166 children were born between July 2023 and June 2024, 8.2 percent less than in the same period twelve months earlier. Altogether 125,452 people died between July 2023 and June 2024, 4.8 percent less than in the year before.
There were 8.0 live births and 13.1 deaths per thousand inhabitants in the first six months.
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Well another Orban plan meets with… reality? Seems less Hungarians is the new normal. Even the sperm and eggs want out.
It’s bizarre that while the government seeks to increase the birth rate, on the flip side you have a property market that’s out of control impeding the ability of young couples to find housing, the experience of giving birth in state hospitals is frequently horrific and the education system the state expects these young families to avail themselves of is underfunded and backward. You can throw all the money you want at incentivising people to have children, many, especially the more educated will decide against it, or will emigrate and start families abroad. There’s also the small matter of weak salaries whose values are being inflated away and their value expressed in hard currency is being eroded at a frightening rate. Even with monetary support from the state, many feel they cannot afford to have children or don’t want to raise them in relative poverty.