Hungary population decline accelerates further

Hungary’s population decline accelerated further in the first seven months of the year as the number of births edged down by 0.1 percent and the number of deaths jumped by 6.8 percent compared with the same period last year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported on Friday.

Figures show that there were 52,056 births in January-July, up 32 from the same period a year earlier. According to leap-year-adjusted data, the number of births for the period was up 0.4 percent compared with 2016.

The number of deaths was 78,583, KSH said.

If adjusted for the leap-year effect, the number of deaths was up an annual 7.4 percent.

The stalling birth rate and the rising death rate mean that the rate of natural population decline was 24 percent higher compared with the same period in 2016.