The number of deaths last year was the most since World War II, the population increased only by migration
Last year, 139,900 people died in the Czech Republic, the most since the end of World War II, and 10,600 more than in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus epidemic. The number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 28,100. This was the deepest natural population decline in the history of the Czech Republic since 1918, the Czech Statistical Office informed. According to him, however, the population of the Czech Republic lost 21,900 to 10,516 million last year.
Last March, the Czech Statistical Office announced that the population of the Czech Republic had increased by 7,838 million to 10,702 million in 2020. Jan Dehner from the regional administration of the Czech Statistical Office in Ostrava said that the office had retroactively adjusted the population on 1 January 2021 so that it was in line with the results of last year’s census. This adjustment of statistics is made every ten years.
“The reason for population growth during 2021 was only a positive balance of foreign migration, when the number of immigrants exceeded the number of emigrants by 50,000,” said Terezie Štyglerová, head of the demographic statistics department. According to statistics, the positive balance of migration was higher by 23,000 and the highest since 2009.
Last year, 111,800 children were born in the Czech Republic, and it contains 1,600 more. A higher number of second-born children contributed to the increase, while there were fewer first-borns and third- or higher-ranked children compared to 2020. According to statistics, female fertility was the highest in 30 years last year. According to their preliminary results, it reached 1.83 children per woman of reproductive age from 15 to 49, the most since 1992.
“It is the one who gives the average number of children born per woman of reproductive age while maintaining the situation from last year,” added Michaela Němečková from the Department of Demographic Statistics.
According to statistics, the number of deaths last year increased by a quarter compared to the average of 2015 to 2019. Thus, the significant year-on-year increase was the second in a row, when it increased by eight percent in 2021, statistics said. According to them, the most deaths were in March and January last year, and with regard to age categories, most people died in the 75-79 age group.
Life expectancy has fallen again, with births in 2021, according to preliminary results, falling to 74.1 years for men and 80.5 years for women. “Over the past two years, with the covidu-19 pandemic, it has fallen by 2.2, 1.6 years,” the statistics added.
Last year, 69,200 people immigrated to the Czech Republic from abroad, while 19,200 people moved out of the country. The foreign migration thus ended with a positive balance of 50,000 people, which, according to statistics, was 23,000 higher and the highest since 2009.