Figures show that there were 68,339 births in January-September, down 799 from the same period a year earlier. According to leap-year-adjusted data, the number of births for the period was down 0.8% compared with 2016. The number of deaths was 98,833, up 5,504 compared with last year, KSH said.

The rate of natural population decline (30,494) was 26% higher compared with the same period in 2016 (24,191). The number of marriages fell by an annual 1.9% to 42,808.

Despite improvements in the past 15 years, life expectancy in Hungary lags considerably behind other European Union member states, with an under-financed health sector and per-capita health spending only half of the EU average, according to a fresh report by the European Commission.

Life expectancy for newborns was 75.7 in Hungary in 2015, above the 71.9 recorded in 2000 but still almost five years below the EU average, the report showed. The life expectancy of Hungarian men is 72.3, which is nearly seven years less than for women.

There are also significant gaps between members of different social groups. Men with a primary education have nine years lower life expectancy than graduates.

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