In the first nine months of the year, one tenth fewer children were born in Hungary, while mortality stagnated.
According to the KSH statistics office, a total of 58,220 babies were born in the months of January-September. In the same period in 2023, there were 6,500 more babies. Since May, the decline in births compared to the same month of the previous year has been in double figures. Since October 2023, there has not been a month with at least 7,000 births; August 2022 was the last time there were more than 8,000 births. The fertility rate is now stable again at below 1.4. As is well known, former President Katalin Novák had celebrated rising birth rates as a success of Fidesz’s family policy, although the fertility rate did not rise above 1.6 even in the three ‘golden’ years of 2021-23.
Number of deaths stagnates
Meanwhile, 93,600 Hungarians died between January and September, almost the same number as in the baseline period of 2023. The population decline then increased by 22% or 6,500 people to just under 35,400. Fewer and fewer couples are also tying the knot, which the Orbán government promotes with numerous incentives: by the end of September, only 38,200 couples had married in a civil ceremony or at the altar. That is again 5% or almost 2,000 couples less than a year ago. Unfortunately, infant mortality has also risen by a fifth; 230 deaths were registered within nine months. This corresponds to around four deaths for every 1,000 live births.
Regionally, it is particularly noticeable in the richer parts of the country (capital and western Transdanubia) that fewer and fewer children are being born there. Meanwhile, every sixth child is born in the Northern Great Plain, i.e. in the north-east of the country. Meanwhile, Budapest suffers the most deaths in the region; the capital’s share of this inglorious statistic also reaches almost one sixth.
Annualised
The KSH figures for the last twelve months are correspondingly sobering. In the period from October 2023 to September 2024, only 78,700 children were born (-9.5%), but at the same time 128,000 deaths (-0.5%) were registered, while 48,250 couples (-5%) tied the knot.
