Over the observed years, the population of Hungary gradually decreased. On January 1, 2025, the country's population amounted to 9.54 million people, compared to over 10.4 million recorded in 1989. What are the drivers of population decline?  Emigration is just one of the causes behind Hungary’s decreasing population. Over the past decade, the number of deaths exceeded the number of live births in the country each year, which contributed to the country’s aging population. The Hungarian government has introduced various financial incentives to fight this phenomenon and increase fertility rates in the country; however, it remains to be seen whether these measures will bring the desired results. From which countries are people immigrating to Hungary?  Net migration in Hungary has presented positive values over the past years, meaning that the number of immigrants exceeded the number of people leaving the country. In 2023, the highest number of foreigners arrived from Asian countries their number measuring at nearly 22,000. Vietnamese constituted the second-largest group, with approximately 9,700 people moving to Hungary during the same year.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Hungary was approximately 3.3 million, a figure which would steadily rise in the first two decades of the 19th century, as modernization driven by rising exports of cash crops resulting from the ongoing Napoleonic wars would see Hungary become a major exporter in Europe. The slowing in population growth in the 1920s can be attributed in part to the economic recession which hit Hungary in the years following Napoleon defeat, as a grain prices collapsed, and economic hardship intensified in the country. Hungary would see a small increase in population growth in the 1860s, as the country would merge with the Austria to form Austria-Hungary in 1967. As industrialization would continue to accelerate in Hungary, the country’s population rise even further, reaching just over seven million by 1900.

While Hungary had enjoyed largely uninterrupted growth throughout the 19th century, the first half of the 20th century would see several major disruptions to Hungary’s population growth. Growth would slow greatly in the First World War, as Austria-Hungary would find itself one of the largest combatants in the conflict, losing an estimated 1.8 to 2 million people to the war. Hungary’s population would flatline entirely in the 1940s, as the country would see extensive military losses in the country’s invasion of the Soviet Union alongside Germany, and further loss of civilian life in the German occupation of the country and subsequent deportation and mass-murder of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews. As a result, Hungary’s population would remain stagnant at just over nine million until the early 1950s.

After remaining stagnant for over a decade, Hungary’s population would spike greatly in the early 1950s, as a combination of a tax on childlessness and strict contraception restrictions implemented by then-Minister of Public Welfare Anna Ratkó would lead to a dramatic expansion in births, causing Hungary’s population to rise by over half a million in just five years. However, this spike would prove only temporary, as the death of Stalin in 1953 and subsequent resignation of much of the Stalinist regime in Hungary would see an end to the pro-natalist policies driving the spike. From 1980 onward, however, Hungary’s population would begin to steadily decline, as a sharp reduction in birth rates, combined with a trend of anti-immigrant policies by the Hungarian government, both before and after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, has led Hungary’s population to fall steadily from its 10.8 million peak in 1980, and in 2020, Hungary is estimated to have a population of just over nine and a half million.

In 2024, the total population of Hungary was 9.59 million people. Between 1980 and 2024, the figure dropped by 1.12 million people, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory. The forecast shows the total population will steadily decline by 150,000 people from 2024 to 2030.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

Population density of Hungary slipped by 0.13% from 105.2 people per sq. km in 2022 to 105.1 people per sq. km in 2023. Since the 0.48% downward trend in 2013, population density declined by 3.62% in 2023. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers.

Hungary: Rural population, percent of total population: The latest value from 2024 is 26.82 percent, a decline from 27.14 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 38.30 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Hungary from 1960 to 2024 is 34.92 percent. The minimum value, 26.82 percent, was reached in 2024 while the maximum of 44.09 percent was recorded in 1960.

In 2025, Hungary’s population totaled 9.54million. The number of inhabitants residing in Budapest decreased over the past years, measuring at **** million as of January 1, 2025. The population of other towns and villages also showed a slight decrease in recent years. Permanent internal migration increases The number of people permanently changing their place of residence within the country has increased in Hungary lately. Permanent internal migration peaked in 2021 at more than ******* individuals, while, in 2010, this figure stood at approximately *******. In 2024, the number of Hungarians migrating internally totaled *******. Budapest real estate market In addition to the country’s decreasing population, real estate prices in Budapest also contribute to the declining number of Hungarians living in the capital. As of April 2024, the lowest average monthly rental prices were recorded in districts XXIII and XVIII, at approximately ******* forints. By comparison, the highest rental prices were recorded in district V at ******* forints.

Hungary: Female population, percent of total: The latest value from 2024 is 51.98 percent, a decline from 52.01 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 49.99 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Hungary from 1960 to 2024 is 51.99 percent. The minimum value, 51.53 percent, was reached in 1970 while the maximum of 52.51 percent was recorded in 2005.

In 1910, modern-day Hungary was a part of the much larger Austro-Hungarian Empire, however this information relates only to the Trianon area, which is what we call Hungary today. In 1910 the population of men and women was very similar, with both figures around 3.8 million people, however the impact of WWI means that the number of women is 330 thousand greater than the number of men in 1920. Although the graph does not show us the total number of Hungarian people who fell in WWI, it does show us the long-term effect that the war had on the population.

This trend is repeated in the Second World War, however to a larger extent. From the graph we can see that both populations grew gradually in the inter-war years, however the growth rate of both genders falls greatly, and the total number of men falls from by 70 thousand people in the 1940s. Again, the graph does not show us the total number who fell during the war, as the interval between the figures is too large, however it does show the long term impacts of the war.

After WWII we can see that the difference between men and women is now 335 thousand in 1950, and the difference remains around this number until 1980 when both populations begin to decline. The number of men drops continuously from 5.2 million in 1980 to 4.7 million in 2015, and the number of women drops from 5.6 to 5.1 million during this time, although it does grow between 1990 and 1995 before falling again. The difference in populations also grows throughout this time from 340 thousand people to 520 thousand people. This decline in population is due to a number of factors, most notably the decreasing birthrate, economic emigration and strict anti-immigration policies against non-EU citizens. The number of men is also decreasing at a faster rate than the number of women, as men are statistically more likely to migrate in search of work.

In 2023, the annual population growth in Hungary amounted to -0.54 percent. Between 1961 and 2023, the figure dropped by 0.99 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

The gini index in Hungary was forecast to remain on a similar level in 2029 as compared to 2024 with 0.3 points. According to this forecast, the gini will stay nearly the same over the forecast period. The Gini coefficient here measures the degree of income inequality on a scale from 0 (=total equality of incomes) to one (=total inequality).The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the gini index in countries like Slovakia and Slovenia.

By the end of 2100, the population of Central and Eastern Europe will amount to 187.07 million, a decrease of 43 percent from 2017. If Russia is excluded from the tally, the CEE population will decrease by more than half. Latvia will lose the most population, nearly 80 percent. Russia, on the other hand, will experience the smallest decline (-27 percent).

There were 26 kidney transplant procedures carried out per million population in Hungary in 2023. This represents an increase in the number of transplants compared to the previous year. Liver transplants were the second-most carried out transplant procedure in Hungary, at almost seven per million population, although this slightly declined from the previous year.  Transplant waiting list There were more than 1,000 patients waiting for a kidney transplant in Hungary in 2023, which represented a slight decrease compared to the previous year. Furthermore, there were 183 patients waiting for a liver transplant in 2023, compared to 87 individuals recorded in 2020. Activity compared to Europe The rate of kidney transplants in Hungary was relatively low compared to other EU countries. Spain had the highest rate of kidney transplants in 2023 at 77.7 per million population, which was more than three times the rate of kidney transplant procedures in Hungary. Additionally, Hungary had a low liver transplant rate compared to the rest of Europe.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the area of modern-day Italy, at the time a collection of various states and kingdoms, was estimated to have a population of nineteen million, a figure which would grow steadily throughout the century, and by the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the population would rise to just over 26 million.

Italy’s population would see its first major disruption during the First World War, as Italy would join the Allied Forces in their fight against Austria-Hungary and Germany. In the First World War, Italy’s population would largely stagnate at 36 million, only climbing again following the end of the war in 1920. While Italy would also play a prominent role in the Second World War, as the National Fascist Party-led country would fight alongside Germany against the Allies, Italian fatalities from the war would not represent a significant percentage of Italy’s population compared to other European countries in the conflict. As a result, Italy would exit the Second World War with a population of just over 45 million.

From this point onwards the Italian economy started to recover from the war, and eventually boomed, leading to increased employment and standards of living, which facilitated steady population growth until the mid-1980s, when falling fertility and birth rates would cause growth to largely cease. From this point onward, the Italian population would remain at just over 57 million, until the 2000s when it began growing again due to an influx of migrants, peaking in 2017 at just over 60 million people. In the late 2010s, however, the Italian population began declining again, as immigration slowed and the economy weakened. As a result, in 2020, Italy is estimated to have fallen to a population of 59 million.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Slovakia was estimated to be just over two million, a figure which would grow steadily throughout the 19th century as part of the kingdom of Hungary and later under the dual kingdom of Austria-Hungary. This growth would continue even throughout the first half of the 20th century, as the country would largely escape conflict in both the First and Second World Wars. As a result, Slovakia’s population would rise to just under three and a half million by 1950.

Slovakia’s population would begin to rapidly increase in the years following the Second World War, however, as the country would experience both a baby boom and large-scale modernization and industrialization as part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. After slowing somewhat in the late 1960s, population growth would increase once more in the 1970s and 1980s, as Slovakia would become the first of the Soviet republics to begin the “normalization” process of reforms brought about by the Soviet perestroika (restructuring) movement. While population growth would largely flatline following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, unlike many former Soviet republics who saw their populations decline as net emigration rose, Slovakia’s population has managed to avoid declining, and in the 2010s, has even begun to rise again. As a result, in 2020, Slovakia is estimated to have a population of just under five and a half million.