Hungary's Population Decrease Continues

In September this year, over 1,400 more people died than the number of babies born in Hungary, the country's Central Statistical Office reported this Friday.

In September 2021, 8,600 children were born and 10,024 people died in Hungary according to preliminary data. Compared to September 2020, the number of live births was up by 1.0% and that of deaths decreased by 2.0%. 7,912 couples got married, which was 11% less than in the same month of the previous year.

In January–September 2021:
69,371 children were born, which was 0.4% less or 296 fewer than in January–September 2020. Within this, there were 9.4% less live births in January and 2.0% less in April–July and 1.4% more in February, 10% more in March and 1.6% more in August–September compared to the corresponding months of 2020.

The total fertility rate was estimated at 1.58 per female, compared with 1.57 for January–September 2020.

There were 111,041 deaths, 17% or 16,287 more than one year earlier. 17% more people died in January, 6.5% more in February, 51% more in March–April and 9.0% more in May–July and 2.0% less in August–September than in the same periods of the previous year.

The number of deaths substantially rose, while that of births slightly decreased, as a result of which the natural decrease was 41,670 as opposed to 25,087 in January–September 2020, which was a rise of 66%.

58,530 couples got married, which was 9.2% or 4,916 more than a year earlier. 7.0% less marriages were registered in January–February and 11% less in August–September and 5.2% more in March and 33% more in April–July than in the corresponding months of 2020.

There were 9.5 live births and 15.3 deaths per thousand population. The rate of live births was nearly the same as and that of deaths 2.3 per mille points higher than in January–September 2020, as a result of which the rate of natural decrease was up by 2.3 per mille points to 5.7 per mille. The number of infant deaths was 3.2 per thousand live births in January–September 2021, which was a decline of 0.2 per mille point compared to the same period of the previous year. The marriage rate was 8.1 per mille, which was a 0.7 per mille point growth compared to the corresponding period of 2020.

In terms of the trends of vital events in the last twelve months, i.e. between October 2020 and September 2021, the number of births went down by 0.6%, while that of deaths was 24% and the number of marriages 7.9% higher than a year earlier.