Hungary Population Drops to Less Than 10 Million for First Time Since 1960
Hungary’s population dropped to less than 10 million for the first time since 1960, the country’s statistics office said today.
The population dropped to 9,999,000 at the end of August after accounting for the effects of immigration, the Budapest- based statistics office said in an e-mailed statement. The population surpassed 10 million for the first time in 1960 and rose until 1980, statistician Ferenc Kamaras said by phone. It has been falling since, he said.
The government is introducing tax breaks for families with children from next year to stem the demographic decline. The number of people under the age of 15 fell by 880,000 since 1981 while the number of those above age 60 climbed by 400,000, Kamaras said.
“This is the first time in 50 years that we crossed below the 10 million mark,” he said. “The problem of a dwindling population is compounded by the fact that it is also ageing.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at zsimon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Willy Morris at wmorris@bloomberg.net
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