On the other hand, 1.8 million people were 65 or older last year, a number which has risen from just under 1.5 million seniors at the time of the 1980 census. In percentage terms, the ratio of children was below 15 percent in 2016, while in the early years of the 1900s that ratio was as high as 35-37 percent.

The ratio of seniors stayed below 10 percent before 1970, while by now it has risen to 18 percent.

In 1870 there were eight elderly people for 100 children – as opposed to 128 old people per 100 children in the surveyed period.

The survey found that 6.6 million people were in their active years in 2016. Authors of the survey also noted that the population of the current area of Hungary doubled since the first ever census in 1870.

The total population was at its largest, 10.7 million people, in 1980, which has now been reduced to 9.8 million.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.