Hungary's Population Continues to Decrease

7,366 children were born and 11,940 people lost their lives in December, which means a natural decrease of 4,574 compared to the previous month and 45,300 in the year 2022, the Central Statistical Office reports.

In 2022, the number of births diminished by 5.0%, that of deaths by 13% and the number of marriages by 11% compared to one year earlier.

In December 2022:
A total of 7,366 children were born, 0.5% or 34 more than a year earlier.

11,940 people lost their lives, 28% less or 4,542 fewer than in December 2021. The reason for the significant decrease was the high base value in December 2021, amid the fourth wave of the coronavirus epidemic. 6.5% or 730 more people died compared to the corresponding period of 2019, the last year before the epidemic.

The natural decrease was 4,574, as opposed to 9,150 in December 2021.

2,798 couples got married, which was 36% less or 1,560 fewer than in December 2021.

In 2022:
88,400 children were born, 5.0% less or 4,639 fewer than in the previous year. The number of births went down by 11% in January–April and by 7.6% in August–November and increased by 4.1% in May–July and by 0.5% in December compared to the same period of 2021.

The total fertility rate was estimated at 1.52 per female, compared to 1.59 for 2021.

There were 135,700 deaths, 13% less or 19,921 fewer than in the previous year. The number of deaths diminished by 4.5% in January, by 21% in March–June and by 18% in September–December and grew by 4.9% in February and by 6.2% in July–August compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The number of births went down to a lower extent than that of deaths, as a result of which the natural decrease was 47,300, which was 24% lower than the value of 62,582 for the previous year.

64,100 couples got married, 11% less or 7,930 fewer than a year earlier. 10% less marriages were registered in January–April, 13% less in June–December and 3.7% more in May than in the same months of 2021.

There were 9.1 live births and 14.0 deaths per thousand population. The rate of live births was 0.5 per mille point and that of deaths 2.0 per mille points lower than in 2021, as a result of which the rate of natural decrease lessened by 1.6 per mille points to 4.9 per mille. The number of infant deaths was 3.6 per thousand live births, which was 0.2 per mille point more than in the previous year. The marriage rate was 6.6 per mille, so, it was 0.8 per mille point less than in the previous year.

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 9,678,000 at the end of 2022.