By rbj
Hungary has suffered the sharpest decline in population since 1876, if only the years of peace are taken into account, due to the impact of the pandemic, reports EFE, quoted by Agerpres.
According to official preliminary data, a total of 153,000 people died in Hungary last year, the highest number since the end of World War II.
Of these, 29,649 people died last year from coronavirus, making it the fourth-highest Central European country in terms of population, after Peru, Bulgaria and Bosnia, according to data on the platforms Worldometers and Our World in Data.
Hungary’s population has shrunk by 60,000 in 2021, the sharpest decline since 1876 – when demographic statistics began to be compiled – taking into account only periods of peace.
This population decline has exacerbated the chronic demographic problem of Hungary, which is projected to lose about 1 million people by 2040, or 10% of the current population, below 10 million.
The extremely high mortality rate caused by coronavirus is a consequence of the fact that the authorities have not taken sufficient measures, according to experts.
Kunetz, a doctor and health expert, links this inaction to the general election in the country in April.
Thus, no quarantine periods were imposed in 2021, not even at times when the incidence of diseases was double compared to 2020, and the main method used was the use of masks in enclosed spaces and in means of transport in common.
Gabor Zacher, a professor at Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest, recently told the Portfolio news portal that “Hungarian health is among the worst in the EU” and cited the high number of cancer cases as risk factors for death. , obesity and diabetes.
The Hungarian executive insisted on shifting responsibility to citizens.
Hungary’s population decreased by 40,400 people in 2019, when 89,200 births and 129,600 deaths were recorded, according to representatives of the Central Statistical Office (KSH). The population of Hungary decreased in 2018 by 41,238. There were 89,807 births and 131,045 deaths that year. Hungary is on the list of the 20 countries that are facing the fastest declining population.
With the demographic decline, Hungary’s economic strength could also weaken in the coming decades. GDP growth will be increasingly affected by negative demographic trends. For Hungary to remain steady in terms of population, it would be necessary for the total fertility rate to increase from 1.55 in 2018 to 2.1 people.
In 1962, Hungary had the lowest fertility rate on Earth. Due to mass abortions (between 1960 and 1973, there were more abortions than births) and the prevalence of contraceptives led to a significant decrease in conception. In the Kádár era, population growth was extremely modest, except between 1974 and 1977, due to the birth of Ratkó’s grandchildren and the tightening of the abortion law again. From this point on, on average, less than 2 children were born to the mother, so the reproduction of the population has not been guaranteed for almost half a century.
Hungary’s population peaked in 1980 at 10,709,000. At that time, the reason for the decline in population was mainly due to the high mortality of the 1980s, while since the 1990s the sharp decline in birth rates and birth rates has remained at a persistently low level. Since 1981, the decrease in the number of births has not been able to compensate for the increase in the number of deaths.
The population decline has accelerated since the regime change, reaching its lowest point in 1999, and since then there has been a slight improvement, with fewer failures.
On October 1, 2016, at the time of the last micro census, the resident population of Hungary was 9,804,000. The population decline of 1980 continued. In recent years, since the last population census in 2011, the population of Hungary has decreased by 134,000, while in the ten years between the last two censuses – 2001 and 2011 – the population decrease has been over 200,000.
Today, the estimated Hungarian population is 9.5 million, with more and more elderly and fewer children in society.
According to a study by the Central Statistical Office of Hungary, by 2070, Hungary’s population could drop to 6 million.
