Population and vital events

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In Hungary, fewer children were born in 2024 than a year earlier. The number of deaths also declined, but to a lesser extent than the number of births, so the rate of natural decrease accelerated. A lower surplus of international migration than in the previous year slightly reduced the population decrease, and the country's population fell by 45 thousand people. The number of marriages fell short of the previous year, while the number of divorces slightly exceeded it.

According to preliminary data, 5,323 children were born and 9,565 people died in April 2025. The number of births lessened by 14%, that of marriages by 5.4% and that of deaths by 2.3% compared to the same month of the previous year.

King Leopold I gave Debrecen free royal town status in a patent dated 11 April 1693, in commemoration of this event the city is celebrating since 1998 its day on 11 April. Debrecen was the capital of the country twice, since the mid-1980s it is the second most populous city of Hungary (preceding Miskolc). It is a significant economic and educational-cultural centre. The city is the first in the rank of county seats considering the number of registered enterprises, and the University of Debrecen hosts, among the tertiary educational institutions of Hungary, the most foreign students.

Women's Day, originally linked to the fight for women's suffrage and equality, was first celebrated more than 100 years ago. In Hungary, Women's Day events were organised throughout the country as early as 1914, and since 1948 women have been celebrated on 8 March. Today it is more about recognising the achievements and social efforts of women. As in most EU Member States, women are in the majority in Hungary, with around 5 million women living in Hungary on 1 January 2024, 7.3% more than men.

The Marriage Week initiative started in England more than 25 years ago. In Hungary, it has been organised since 2008, this year from 9 to 16 February. The aim of this series of events is to raise awareness of the importance of marriage and family. The long-term decline in the number of marriages in our country reached its lowest point in 2010, with 36 thousand marriages, and then started to increase, reaching over 72 thousand in 2021. Since then, there has been a decrease; barely 47 thousand couples got married in 2024.

In 2023, the number of deaths decreased to a greater extent than that of births, resulting in a slower pace of natural decrease. Life expectancy at birth has risen to its highest level ever. The decline in the number of marriages has continued. The Demographic Yearbook provides detailed data on the composition of the population, the changes in births, marriages, divorces and deaths, as well as the features of migration.

The yearbook provides an overview of Hungary's demographic, social and economic processes, environmental characteristics and their changes over time, with the help of tens of thousands of data of 500 tables, graphs and maps. Innovatively, the Tourism, catering chapter in the volume includes the gross receipts of tourist accommodation establishments by type of accommodation. Another change is that this year the Regional data chapter already presents territorial data by tourism area, giving greater emphasis to tourist destinations.

Geopolitical tensions continued to overshadow economic developments in 2023, with the gross domestic product falling by 0.9%. Inflationary pressures gradually eased, but the 17.6% annual increase in consumer prices led to a decline in real earnings and consumption, and negatively affected investment decisions. Despite the economic difficulties, employment has reached a record high. In 2023, the number of deaths and births continued to fall, in addition to the decrease in the number of women of childbearing age.

We updated data on intra-settlement housing and resident population, available within the section titled Parts of towns and of settlements, according to the status at the 2022 Census. The Detailed Gazetteer of the Countries under the Hungarian Crown was first published 150 years ago, in 1873, being edited and compiled by the National Hungarian Royal Statistical Office, followed by 25 additional printed editions, the last one in 2003. Since then the publication has come out online. The Detailed Gazetteer is the name and data repository of Hungary’s localities, the present version containing data according to the administrative status as of 1 January 2023.