Eurostat: Fertility rate edges up in Hungary, but still far from replacement level

Budapest, March 9 (MTI) – Hungary’s fertility rate edged up by 0.14 to 1.45 in the fifteen years to 2015 but was still well under the level necessary to keep the population size constant in the absence of migration, a summary of data compiled by Eurostat shows.

Nowhere in the EU does the fertility rate reach the 2.1 live births per woman considered to be the replacement level in developed countries, Eurostat noted.

In a regional comparison, the fertility rate in Hungary exceeded that in Slovakia (1.40) and Poland (1.32), but was under 1.57 in the Czech Republic, where the rate jumped 0.42 over fifteen years.

Hungary’s government has made support for families with children a priority, increasing their tax preferences and offering them subsidies and grants for the purchase of homes.

Source: MTI/Eurostat