Population of Budapest

approximately 2 million

Age Structure:

0-20 years: 24%

19-59 years: 52%

60 years+: 24%

Population Growth Rate:

0.02%

Birth Rate

9.5 births/1,000 population

Death Rate:

14.1 deaths/1,000 population

Net Migration Rate:

0 migrants/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate:

11.9 deaths/1,000 live births

Life Expectancy at Birth:

Total Population: 71.9 years

Males: 67.94 years

Females: 76.06 years

Marriage Rate:

11.1 marriages/1000 inhabitants

Divorce Rate:

622 divorces/1000 marriages

Total Fertility Rate:

1.82 children born/woman

For one thing, Budapest is rapidly becoming a city of old people. The retirement age in Hungary is 55 years for women and 60 for men. As more and more people live past wage earning ages, and the value of pensions declines due to inflation, the living conditions of Budapest's elderly--a significant chunck of the population--is becoming a major urban problem. The older residential areas of the center city are rapidly becoming slums, largely filled with the cities older members. The neighborhoods tend to decline as their formerly middle class population ages and grows poorer, and the marginal groups of society tend to move into these neighborhoods in replacement. Under socialism, each citizen was guaranteed some level of financial care into old age. As that system is replaced by capitalism, the fate of these groups is tenuous.

There are no indications that this aging process is going to subside. The youngest age group exists in the population in the same percentage as the oldest. Budapest is aging and shrinking. Very few babies are being born--about the same number of fetuses are carried to term as are aborted, and marriage is declining. Part of the decrease in the number of marriages can be attributed to death. This is particularly evident by the greater proportion of women in the society than men, due to the nearly eight year discrepancy between men and women in life expectancy. A growing divorce rate is also responsible for the decline of marriage. In fact, the city suffers from a marriage deficit: in 1987, 20,500 marriages were terminated, whereas, only 12,700 were formed.

Diseases of the circulatory system account for slightly more than half of all deaths. Malignant diseases are the second biggest killer, followed by accidents and suicide. Hungary has an unusually high suicide rate, which has been attributed to a fatalistic national outlook and a sense of isolation stemming in part from the history (or lack thereof) of the Magyar language.

In general, this demographic data tells a story of poor quality of life. Health conditions are poor, as is public morality if one uses the puritanical criteria that high rates of divorce and abortion are evidence of a lack of morality.