In the first eight months of 2015 the death rate in Hungary outstripped the number of births despite a rise in the number of births and marriages, according to a report of the Central Statistical Office. There were 60,162 births in January-August, 0.5 percent more than during the same period in 2014. A significant increase was recorded especially in July, when 20 percent more marriages were registered than in the same period last year. However, Hungary’s population declined by 28,968 in the first eight months in comparison with the same period in 2014. The statistical office’s predictions warn that over the next 45 years the population of Hungary could contract by 19.4 percent.
