Number of deaths up 40% y.o.y. in March

In March 2021, a total of 7,759 children were born, which was 9.5% or 674 more than in March 2020. This has been the highest number of births in March since 2010.

The number of deaths rose significantly and that of births to a lesser extent, as a result of which the natural decrease went up by 85%, to 8,620 as opposed to 4,650 in March 2020.

The number of marriages increased; 5,135 couples got married, which was 5.1% or 247 more than in March 2020. The number of marriages in March has not been so high since 1986, KSH notes.

Natural decrease accelerates in January-March

In January-March 2021, some 22,254 children were born, which was 17 or 0.1% more than the number of births in January–March 2020. The leap-day-adjusted number of births was up more, by 1.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Within this, there were 9.3% fewer live births in January, and 5% more in February, and 9.5% more in March compared to the corresponding months of 2020.

The total fertility rate was estimated at 1.54 per female, compared with 1.5 for the first quarter of 2020.

There were 41,727 deaths, 20% or 7,072 more than one year earlier. Taking into account the leap-day effect, the increase in the number of deaths was higher in this period, at 22%. Approximately 17% more people died in January, 7.8% more in February, and 40% more in March.

The number of deaths went up more significantly than that of births, as a result of which the natural decrease was 19,473 as opposed to 12,418 in the first three months of 2020, which was a rise of 57% or, according to leap-day-adjusted data, 59% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Some 12,004 couples got married, which was 2.1% less or 262 fewer than a year earlier. The leap-day-adjusted number of marriages diminished by 0.9%. 3.1% fewer marriages were registered in January, 6.0% less in February and 5.1% more in March than in the corresponding months of 2020.

There were 9.3 live births and 17.4 deaths per thousand population. The rate of live births was 0.1 per mille point and that of deaths 3.1 per mille points higher than in January–March 2020, as a result of which the rate of natural decrease was up by 3 per mille points to 8.1 per mille. The number of infant deaths was 2.7 per thousand live births in the first three months of 2021, which was a decline of 1.1 per mille points compared to January–March of the previous year. The marriage rate was 5 per mille, which was slightly lower than in the same period of 2020.

The number of births went up in all regions compared to the same period of the previous year, except for the decreases recorded for Budapest (–10.4%) and Northern Hungary (–0.2%). The highest growths were in Southern Great Plain (6.3%) and Central Transdanubia (5.9%) and the lowest one in Pest Region (0.7%).

The number of deaths increased in all regions. The highest growth of 36% occurred in Southern Transdanubia and the lowest one of 9.1% in Budapest.

The natural decrease grew in all regions due to larger rises there in the number of deaths than in that of births. The largest increases were measured for Southern Transdanubia (81%) and Northern Great Plain (75%). The natural decrease went up to a lower extent in the remaining regions, the least in Southern Great Plain (39%), Central Transdanubia (41%), and Budapest (44%).

The number of marriages went down in five regions and rose in three. The highest growth occurred in Northern Great Plain (7.2%), and the highest decrease was in Budapest (–17%).