New stats reveal Czech population growth is due to the migration of foreigners

The population of the Czech Republic increased by 13,900 in the first nine months of 2020, rising from 10.69 million to 10.71 million. Growth, however, was significantly lower compared to the same period of last year, according to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ)

While the natural development of the population, with births compared to deaths, was negative, net migration saw more people arriving than leaving, which led to an overall increase.

The number of marriages decreased significantly, the number of births and divorces was also lower in year-on-year comparison. The number of deaths rose slightly compared the same time in 2019.

Some 15,573 foreigners gained some form of legal residence in the first three quarters of 2020, which was 15,475 fewer than in the same period of 2019, a drop of roughly half.

A total number of 83,298 children were born between January and September, which was 2,592 fewer than in the same period last year. This relative decline was reflected equally in the number of children born to married women, at 43,000, and unmarried women, at 40,300.

The share of live births outside marriage represented 48.4 percent of all live births, a slight increase over the same period last year when it was 48.1 percent. Half of the children were born to women between the ages of 27 and 33, with the most common age at 31 years.

The number of deaths reached 84,971 during the first three quarters of this year, some 1,037 more than in the same period of 2019.

During the first half of 2020, the number of deaths was similar year-on-year. In the third quarter it was 4 percent higher in comparison. The highest difference in the number of deaths was in September, which was 8 percent higher than in 2019.

The average age of death was 73.1 years for men and 79.9 years for women, or 76.4 years for both genders together. The share of people dying at the age of 85 years or higher was at 31 percent. A total of 192 children died during their first year of life, and infant mortality rate remained at 0.23 percent.

 The ČSÚ does not give reasons for the year-on-year increase in mortality, but the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to it, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Health Ministry statistics show that 9,600 people with proven coronavirus have died since the epidemic began in March this year.

During the first nine months of this year 38,142 marriages were recorded, which was by 9,631 fewer than a year earlier. A major decrease was seen in the second quarter of the year, when the number of marriages fell by half.

The lowest number of marriages was registered in March, with fewer 700. The highest number was in August, with 10,000, followed by September, with 8,400.

The number of divorces that came into force between January and September was 15,678, which was 2,176 fewer in the year-on-year comparison. This could have been due to the limited court activity during the state of emergency. Minor children lived in families of 58 percent of divorced couples. In terms of duration of the marriage at the time of divorce, the majority of marriages ended after 2 to 5 years.

According to the data from administrative sources, a total of 41,500 people immigrated to the Czech Republic from January to September 2020, which was 6,600 fewer than in the same period of 2019. The main drop in immigration occurred in the second quarter of the year, especially in April. On contrary, the number of emigrants increased by 8,900 to reach 25,900. The net migration reached 15,600 between January and September 2020.

Ukraine nationals had the highest positive migration balance, followed by Slovaks and Russians. On the other hand, the nationalities that had more people leaving than arriving were Brits, followed by Poles and Germans.