Hungary - Demographic data

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Hungary, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populous, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

900-1910
Note: The data refer to the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, not of present-day Hungary.

Present
Census 2001 recognised along with Hungarians 16 ethnic groups. Ethnic structure according to 2001 census:


 * Hungarians: 9,627,057 or 94.40%
 * Roma: 205,720 or 2.02%
 * Germans: 120,344 or 1.18%
 * Slovaks: 39,266 or 0.38%
 * Croats: 25,730 or 0.25%
 * Romanians: 8,482 or 0.1%
 * Ukrainians: 7,393 or 0.07%
 * Serbs: 7,350 or 0.07%
 * Greeks: 6,619 or 0.06%
 * Poles: 5,144 or 0.05%
 * Russians: 5,144 or 0.05%
 * Slovenes: 4,832 or 0.04%
 * Chinese: 2,915 or 0.03%
 * Arabs: 2,367 or 0.02%
 * Bulgarians: 2,316 or 0.02%
 * Rusyns: 2,079 or 0.02%
 * Armenians: 1,165 or 0.01%
 * Africans: 321 or 0.00%
 * Turks: unknown, but formed a small community.

According to census data, the largest religion in Hungary is Catholicism (54.5% - Roman Catholicism 51.9%; Greek Catholicism 2.6% ). There is a significant Calvinist minority (16% of the population) and smaller Lutheran (3%), and Jewish (0.1%) minorities. However, these census figures are representative of religious affiliation rather than practice; fewer than 12% of Hungarians attend religious services at least once a week and fewer than 50% at least once a year, while 30% of Hungarians do not believe in God. 

For historical reasons, significant Hungarian minority populations can be found in the surrounding countries, notably in Ukraine (in Transcarpathia), Slovakia, Romania (in Transylvania), and Serbia (in Vojvodina). Austria (in Burgenland), Croatia, and Slovenia (Prekmurje) are also host to a number of ethnic Magyars.

The Roma minority
The real number of Roma in Hungary is a disputed question. In the 2001 census only 190,000 people called themselves Roma, but experts and Roma organisations estimate that there are between 450,000 and 600,000 Roma living in Hungary. During World War II, 50,000 Roma were killed in Hungary. Since then, the size of the Roma population has increased rapidly. Today every fifth or sixth newborn Hungarian child belongs to the Roma minority. Based on current demographic trends, a 2006 estimate by Central European Management Intelligence claims that the proportion of the roma population will double by 2050.



There are problems related to the Roma minority in Hungary, and the very subject is a heated and disputed topic.

Objective problems:
 * Education/bad chances for work: slightly more than 80% of Roma children complete primary education, but only one third continue studies into the intermediate (secondary) level. This is far lower than the more than 90% proportion of children of non-Roma families who continue studies at an intermediate level. Less than 1% of Roma hold higher educational certificates.
 * Poverty: most of the Roma people live in significantly worse conditions than others.
 * Bad health conditions: life expectancy is about 10 years less compared to non-Romas
 * Lack of debate regarding the subject: academic researchers and members of the mainstream press disregard any critics and study the subject in the canonical viewpoint. Critics don't have the funds necessary to perform alternative studies.

Please note that this list below consists disputed issues.
 * Natural repugnance: there are differences is the social behavior of the host nation and the Roma people leading to a disinclination towards each other. This is slowly decaying on the Hungarian side (36-38% ); as of 2007, there is no research made regarding the Roma side.
 * Integration problems on the host side: there's a significant prejudice towards Roma people in Hungary affecting the motivation for integration. Exact numbers are unknown as the research material available mixes prejudice with "post-judice".
 * Integration problems on the Roma side: some Roma people have apparent trouble adjusting to the European standards of social behavior regarding loud-mouthing, littering and being non-violent, law-abiding and working citizens. As of 2007, there is no research available on this issue.
 * Problems with motivation for work: as of 2007, what can be earned with work can be obtained having many children, which does not move Roma people towards work as they usually have more children anyway.
 * Crime: "gipsy crime" ("cigánybűnözés" in Hungarian) is a phenomenon well disputed and often misunderstood. Although originally it refers to some crimes (eg. stealing of items made of copper, lynch, some robbery types, scuffle between families) often committed by Roma offenders, critics say it stigmatizes all Roma people. As a result (as of 2007), Hungarian authorities don't collect any data that could be used to study the issue, therefore no research is available regarding this topic. It's believed that there is a pattern in the crimes committed by Roma criminals and that the ratio of Roma inmates are much higher compared to non-Romas, a phenomenon common in other countries too.
 * School segregation: likely due to repugnance, non-Roma people tend to choose schools with less problematic Roma children. It's also believed that there were cases where healthy Roma children were assigned to classes for pupils with learning disabilities (although this might have been a financial issue).

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population: 10,198,315 (2001)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 17% (male 878,661; female 834,607) 15-64 years: 68% (male 3,407,368; female 3,535,818) 65 years and over: 15% (male 548,672; female 933,718) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.25% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 9.90 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 13.11 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2001)

Infant mortality rate: 9.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.66 years male: 68.45 years female: 77.14 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.32 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Ethnic groups: Hungarian 94.4%, Roma 2.02%, German 1.18%, Slovak 0.38%, Croats 0.25%, Romanian 0.14%, Ukrainian 0.07%, Serbs 0.07%, Greeks 0.07%, Poles 0.05%, Slovenes 0.05%. 

Religion: According to census data, the largest religion in Hungary is Catholicism (54.5% - Roman Catholicism 51.9%; Greek Catholicism 2.6% ). There is a significant Calvinist minority (16% of the population) and smaller Lutheran (3%), and Jewish (0.1%) minorities. However, these census figures are representative of religious affiliation rather than practice; fewer than 12% of Hungarians attend religious services at least once a week and fewer than 50% at least once a year, while 30% of Hungarians do not believe in God. 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.4% male: 99.5% female: 99.3% (2003 est.)
 * See also : Hungary