“In the Czech Republic for a long time, since the mid-1990s, the population has grown only in connection with foreign migration, because in most years the number of deaths exceeded the number of live births,” explains Jitka Rychtaříková from the Department of Demography and Geodemography of the Faculty of Science of the Charles University.

The life expectancy at birth calculated for 2021 is about the same as it was in 2008 and 2009.

Jitka Rychtaríková

Previously, it is said that this so-called natural decline – the excess of the number of deaths over the number of live births – was related to relatively low numbers of live births. In the years 2020 and especially 2021, there was a decrease in the number of inhabitants in natural terms, i.e. an excess of the number of deaths over the number of live births. This was related to the increased mortality caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

But Rychtaříková points out that the mortality situation in 2021 was very similar to that in 2008 and 2009.

“We measure it using the so-called life expectancy at birth, and this indicator, which was calculated for the year 2021, is approximately at the same values ​​as in 2008 and 2009. I would like to bring a little optimism to this.”

Who moves to the Czech Republic the most?

Of the people with foreign citizenship, most Ukrainians, Slovaks and Vietnamese live in the Czech Republic. The data for 2020 show that people from Ukraine are moving to us most often. “As far as Slovakia is concerned, the number of emigrants already exceeds the number of immigrants there. And as for the Vietnamese, they are moving very little.’

According to Rychtáříková, the direct population factor is in second place. It is said that the age structure of the population and involvement in economic activity are more important. Therefore, if people from abroad did not come to live in the Czech Republic, the population would have been decreasing since the mid-1990s.

The regions of Moravskoslezský, Ústecký, Karlovy Vary and Královéhradecký recorded the largest decrease. Conversely, the Central Bohemian Region, Prague and the Pilsen and South Moravian Regions are growing in population.

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