section_path: Demographics
section_name: Demographics
paragraph_text: Demographics
  
  Hungary's population was 9,689,000 in 2021, according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, making it the fifth most populous country in Central and Eastern Europe, and a medium-sized member state of the European Union. As in other former Eastern bloc countries, its population has decreased markedly since the fall of communism, having peaked at 10.8 million in 1980. Population density stands at 107 inhabitants per square kilometre, which is about two times higher than the world average. Around 70% of the population lives in cities and towns overall, which is well above the global rate of 56% but lower than most developed countries; one quarter of Hungarians live in the Budapest metropolitan area in north-central region.
  
  Like most European countries, Hungary is experiencing sub-replacement fertility; its estimated total fertility rate of 1.43 children per woman is well below the replacement rate of 2.1. Consequently, its population has been gradually declining and rapidly aging; the average age is 42.7 years, among the highest in the world. This trend has been exacerbated by a high rate of emigration, particularly among young adults, and anti-immigration policies, which accelerated in the 1990s but have since somewhat abated.
  
  In 2011, the conservative government began a programme to increase the birth rate among ethnic Magyars by reinstating three-year maternity leave and boosting the availability of part-time jobs; the fertility rate has since gradually increased from its nadir of 1.27 children per woman in 2011, in some years rising as high as 1.5. In 2015, 47.9% of births were to unmarried women. Life expectancy was 71.96 years for men and 79.62 years for women in 2015, growing continuously since the fall of Communism.
  
  Hungary recognises two sizeable minority groups, designated as "national minorities" because their ancestors have lived in their respective regions for centuries in Hungary: a German community of about 130,000 that lives throughout the country, and a Romani minority that numbers around 300,000 and mainly resides in the northern part of the country. Some studies indicate a considerably larger number of Romani in Hungary (876,000 people – c. 9% of the population.). According to the 2011 census, there were 8,314,029 (83.7%) ethnic Hungarians, 308,957 (3.1%) Romani, 131,951 (1.3%) Germans, 29,647 (0.3%) Slovaks, 26,345 (0.3%) Romanians, and 23,561 (0.2%) Croats in Hungary; 1,455,883 people (14.7% of the total population) did not declare their ethnicity. Thus, Hungarians made up more than 90% of people who declared their ethnicity. In Hungary, people can declare more than one ethnicity, so the sum of ethnicities is higher than the total population.
  
  Approximately 5 million Hungarians live outside Hungary.