Main population characteristics
(national and regional data)

According to the final census data, the population of Hungary on 1 October 2022 was 9 603 634, a decrease of 334 thousand since the previous census in 2011.

The decline in the proportion of women having children has slowed since the 2011 census, and the proportion of women under 30 who have children has even increased slightly. According to the 2022 Census, 73% of women have had a child in their lifetime, 23% gave birth to one child, 35% to two and 15% to three or more.

In October 2022, one third of the adult population had a school-leaving certificate and a further 22% had a degree. The share of people with no more than primary education fell to 23%, and the share of people with a vocational qualification without a school leaving certificate (21%) has barely changed compared to 2011. Men continue to significantly outnumber women among those with vocational qualifications. The educational attainment of women has increased over the past decades at a higher rate than that of men, but they still predominate among the low-educated, due to the older age composition of women and the higher prevalence of low education among the elderly.

The share of people with tertiary education within the working age population is particularly high in the capital: 44%. In rural cities, almost a third of the working age population while in villages only 15% have tertiary education.

In 2022, 49% of the population was employed, an increase of almost 10 percentage points since 2011. At the same time, the share of inactive earners, who are typically retired, and of dependants, most of whom are children, has fallen to 48%. The number of unemployed in 2022 was 237 thousand, down 58% since 2011.

The employment rate is the highest in the capital (54%) and in the cities with county rank (50%), while in the villages (46%) it is below the national average (49%). Employment is the highest in the central part of the country and in the north-western counties, but it is below the national average in the north-eastern part of the country and in Southern Transdanubia.

More than two thirds of the employed work in a service type sector, with a slight increase between 2011 and 2022. The share of people working in agriculture continued to decline. Among industrial sectors, the share of people employed in construction has increased since 2011.

As a result of the spread of modern technologies, the labour market demand is being rearranged: activities that require a high level of education and less expensive simple ones are coming to the fore, and the demand for those performing tasks that can be automated is decreasing. In the last decade, the proportion of managers and non-manual workers with high intellectual added value, as well as those with simple manual occupations, has increased, while that of those with industrial, construction and service occupations has decreased.

The unemployment rate in the capital and rural towns is below the national average (2.5%), in the villages it exceeds it. In the northern and western parts of Transdanubia, the jobseekers’ rate is low, around 1.6–2.0%, but in the north-eastern part of the country it is sometimes above 10%.

The census question on religion was answered voluntarily by 60% of the population. Roman Catholicism was indicated as the religion of 46% of respondents, 2.6 million people. The proportion of Reformed was 16%, Evangelicals and Greek Catholics were both around 3-3% in 2022. 27% of the respondents stated they were not religious.

86% of the population answered the optional questions on ethnic affiliation. The Nationality Act lists 13 domestic ethnic groups, in addition to other immigrant ethnicities living in the country. In terms of ethnicity, based on mother tongue and language used in family and with friends, the most populous ethnic group in Hungary is the Roma, with 2.5% of respondents, or 210,000 people, belonging to them. In 2022, the number of people with German ethnic affiliation was 143 thousand, 30 thousand Slovaks, 28 thousand Romanians and 25 thousand Ukrainians.

In 2022, 218 thousand foreign citizens were living in our country, an increase of 52% since 2011. The majority of foreigners living here, 76%, came from European countries, 82 thousand were citizens of neighbouring countries.

English is the most common foreign language spoken in our country, with one in four people speaking it, a number that has increased significantly by 50% since 2011. German is spoken by 1.2 million people, almost 100 thousand more than in 2011. Russian is spoken by 204 thousand people, French by 147 thousand and Romanian by 138 thousand. 99% of people living in Hungary speak Hungarian.

The vast majority of the population aged 6 and over, 83%, regularly engage in some kind of digital activity. In addition to browsing the internet and using telecommunications, 53% of them also engage in higher level digital activities such as managing their affairs, shopping or using software online. They are considered to have at least intermediate level of digital skills, with the highest proportions in the capital, Pest county and large rural towns.

75% of the population aged 5 and over answered the voluntary questions on health. 72% of respondents did not report any health problems. 1.7 million people reported a long-term illness, 639 thousand stated they were severely limited by their health condition and 270 thousand had a disability. 109 thousand were considered vulnerable in all three respects, the majority of them elderly.

In 2022, there were 235 persons per 100 households, compared to 236 in 2011 and 257 in 2001. The rate of household fragmentation has slowed, but the number of single person households has continued to increase, with one in three households living alone in 2022.

21% of households have a child under 15. The proportion of households with children is high in the North-East and North-West regions of the country: 23% and 22% respectively. The proportion of households with children is particularly high in the capital's catchment area: 28% in Pest County, while only 17% in Budapest.