Number of births reached a historic low in Hungary: will Hungarians disappear?

In 2024, only 77,500 kids were born in Hungary, the lowest number since 1949, the start of publishing such statistics. The previous historic low was in 2023. It seems all efforts of the Hungarian government to increase the number of births are in vain. New research suggests the Orbán cabinet should not give money to families raising kids but encourage companies to create jobs where mothers can return to work while they raise their small kids.

Number of births reached another historic low

According to 24.hu, in 2024, 77,500 kids were born in Hungary, which is the lowest number since 1949, the start of publishing such statistics. The previous historic low was in 2023. The Hungarian news outlet said Hungary lost tens of thousands of people in 2024. The loss equals the population of Zalaegerszeg due to the growing difference between the number of deaths and births.

The billboard displayed by the right-radical Our Homeland (Mi Hazánk) Party says that the greatest glory a woman can imagine is being a mother and a child is a blessing:

The Orbán cabinet, on the other hand, believes that without their family policies giving money, financial help, and tax revenues to the Hungarian families, the number of kids born would have been significantly lower. They wrote that the EU average concerning the number of kids born was -12%, while in Hungary, it was only -6.9% thanks to their family allowances. Thanks to the government’s “family-friendly turn”, 212 thousand more kids were born between 2011 and 2024, they added. The Ministry of Culture and Innovation wrote that without that turn, only 66 thousand kids would have been born in 2024.

Mothers should be helped to return to work

Meanwhile, new research from Claudia Goldin, awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, shows that after reaching a certain development level, the countries that can increase the number of births are the ones that can open workplaces where mothers can return while raising kids. Instead of promoting traditional female roles, they should encourage fathers to participate in household activities and the difficult task of raising kids, enabling the mothers to return to work at least part-time. The Hungarian government, however, did not launch such programmes; they “only” subsidise families raising kids with money and tax reductions.

Read also:

• Hungarian teenage girls really outdrink their European peers? – alarming new stats released
• Orbán cabinet brought about more than 30 measures and family support schemes

Featured image: depositphotos.com