The number of births in January-April was 28,904, down 411 on the same period in 2016 and the number of deaths was 49,117, up 5,585 during the period, KSH reported.

KSH reported a 42 percent rate of natural population decrease in the first four months compared with the same period in 2016, reflecting a significant increase in deaths against only a slight increase in births. KSH attributed the rate increase primarily to the flu epidemic at the start of the year.

A continuous rise in the number of marriages during previous periods came to a halt with only 9,487 knots tied in January-April, which is down 9.4 percent on the same period in 2017, said KSH. There were 3.8 infant deaths recorded for every 1,000 live births during the surveyed period, which is a 0.5 point drop on the same period in 2016, said KSH.

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