The population of the Czech Republic grew by roughly 8,900 last year, reaching 10.91 million, the highest since the end of the Second World War, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) announced today. The increase was driven by foreign migration, as the number of births hit a record low.
About 36,800 new residents arrived in the country from abroad, while the “natural population change” (i.e. the difference between the number of deaths and births), saw a decrease of 27,900.
According to the statisticians, the decline was similar to 2021 during the COVID pandemic, when a record number of deaths were registered. However, last year’s natural decline was primarily due to the low birthrate.
“The number of live births in 2024 declined significantly for the third year in a row,” said Michaela Nemeckova from the CSU’s demographic statistics department. “The annual total of 84,311 is a new historic low, surpassing the previous figure of 89,471 from 1999.”
Last year, 112,000 people died in the Czech Republic, a slight year-on-year decline.
For the second year in a row, the number of marriages dropped significantly, with 44,500 couples getting married. The highest number of newlyweds belonged to the generation born in 1993.
Divorces, on the other hand, were up year-on-year (20,800). Most divorces came after 4-7 years of marriage. Almost three-fifths of divorced couples had young children together, affecting around 19,300.
The increase due to foreign migration was 57,800 lower year-on-year. In 2024, 121,800 people immigrated to the Czech Republic. Although this was down from the previous year, it was still significantly higher than in the years before the war in Ukraine. About 85,000 people moved abroad, 38,400 more than in 2023. According to CSU, about three-quarters of those who moved abroad were people whose temporary protection status in the country had expired.
The population of Prague increased by 13,148 last year, reaching about 1.398 million at the end of December 2024, due to a combination of natural population increase and migration. according to the CSU data. Prague is the only region in the Czech Republic which saw more births than deaths last year.
