Czech population grows thanks to immigrants again

Last year, 108,600 children were born (which is 97 fewer than in 2011) and 108,200 people died.

The birth rate remained practically unchanged, unlike in the previous years when it repeatedly decreased (by as many as 8,500 children in 2011).

The birth rate boom culminated in the country in 2008, when 119,600 children were born.

The average fertility rate slightly rose to 1.45 last year. The death rate went up by 1300.

The number of first-born children increased slightly while the number of children born as second, third etc further declined.

The number of kids born to unmarried couples and single mothers increased as well, to 43.4 percent from 41.8 in 2011.

The number of the deceased reached 108,200 last year, an increase by 1300.

People´s life expectancy continued to rise, to the age of 75 years for men and 80.9 for women.

About 30,300 foreigners moved to the Czech Republic from January to December 2012. At the same time, 20,000 people moved out of the country. The number of immigrants thus increased by 10,300 last year, compared to 16,900 in 2011.

Most of the immigrants were Ukrainians, Slovaks and Russians. But Ukrainians and Slovaks, along with Czechs, were also among those who left the country most often.

The number of weddings rose only slightly, by 69 to 45,200, in 2012.

The number of divorces dropped to 26,400 from the previous year´s 28,100.

"The most often divorced marriages were those lasting three to five years. Two-thirds of divorces were initiated by the wives," the CSU said.

The population of the Czech capital Prague increased by 5116 to 1,246,780 last year.

Prague thus keeps its position of the most populated Czech region after Central Bohemia.

The number of deaths prevailed over births by 1765 in Prague, though the number of newborn children rose slightly, by 208 to 14,176, against the previous year.

The number of the deceased in Prague rose by 319.

Like elsewhere in the country, Prague´s population increased mainly thanks to foreign immigrants, 32,350 of whom settled in Prague last year while 29,000 left the city.

Numbers of inhabitants, births, deaths, weddings and divorces in the Czech Republic in 2012:

(* preliminary data)

Source: CSU

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz