* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 6.2 minutes
1 death
Every 4.1 minutes
1 emigrant
Every 32.0 minutes
1 person
Every 8.7 minutes
Hungary is a small landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe. Hungary is bordered by Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. The nation has a very long history and it now enjoys a high-income economy and a robust tourism industry.
Like many countries in the European Union, Hungary is facing a demographic crisis with a population that is slowly contracting. Hungary has the second-worst negative growth among EU countries.
Hungary has been inhabited by many people over its long history, including the Celts, Romans, Slavs, Huns, Avars, and Gepids. Today, ethnic Hungarians account for the largest ethnicity at 84% of the population, followed by Romani (3%), Germans (1%), Slovaks (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), and Croats (0.2%). Almost 15% of the population did not declare an ethnicity at the 2011 census.
The official language used in Hungary is Hungarian, with additional use of English at 16%, German at 11.2%, Russian at 1.6%, Romanian at 1.3%, French at 1.2%, and other at 4.2% in use among the population as well.
Christianity is the most common religion in Hungary, although it has no official religion. Most Hungarians became Lutherans following the 16th century, then the country turned largely to Calvinism. Hungary was home to a large Jewish population at one time. While some Hungarian Jews escaped the Holocaust, up to 550,000 were deported to concentration camps or murdered in the country. Budapest remains the center of Hungary’s Jewish population today.
Life expectancy is fairly high at 76.1 years being the average among the total population as of 2018. There is virtually no struggle in accessing clean drinking water or improved sanitation here, with only 2% of the population struggling with access the latter need.
In addition, the World Happiness Report gives a ranking of 69 out of the total participating countries. The rating given in 2018 comes to 5.62 out of 10 possible points. This report takes a variety of factors into consideration when evaluating overall happiness, including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of deception.
The Hungarian population has experienced significant changes in the last century that can be attributed to two world wars, the Treaty of Trianon, emigration, and immigration among other things.
During World War I, child conception declined due to men being at war and women entering the workforce. Following World War I, Hungary lost two-thirds of its land and almost 10 million people through the Treaty of Trianon. Hungarians suffered a collective psyche called “Trianon Syndrome,” which was widespread until 1945 when the Soviet Union took control of Hungary after World War II. During World War II, Hungary suffered a population loss, losing about 300,000 soldiers and about 600,000 civilians (200,000 of which were Holocaust victims).
Hungary’s population hit its peak in 1980 at about 10.71 million people. Since then, the population has declined steadily every year. It is predicted that if Hungary’s negative trend continues, the population will be below 6 million by 2070.
