2020: More Births but Much Worse Death Numbers

2020 produced the second worst demographic result in 120 years in Hungary. A total of 139,549 Hungarians died – no such high number recorded for 21 years – and 9,946 more than a year earlier. The death toll really jumped last September.

In 2020, 92,233 children were born and 139,549 people died according to preliminary data by the country's Central Statistical Office.

The number of births was 3.4% and that of deaths 7.7% higher than in the previous year. The total fertility rate was up from 1.49 in 2019 to 1.55 in 2020. 67,301 couples got married, 3.1% more than in the previous year. In December 2020, the number of live births decreased by 7.9% and that of deaths rose by 44% compared to the same month of 2019.

As a result of the significant rise in the number of deaths in October–December, the annual natural decrease was 47,316, which was an increase of 17% compared to 40,410 in 2019.

The positive balance of international migration lowered the natural decrease of the population, as a result of which the estimated number of the resident population, updated on the basis of the 2011 census, was 9,731 thousand at the end of 2020.