Demographics of the Czech Republic

Demographic features of the population of the Czech Republic include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations.

Demographics of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic population pyramid in 2020
Population	10,827,529 (1 January 2023)^[1]
Growth rate	0.004% (2020)^[2]
Birth rate	9.5 births/1,000 population (2022)^[2]
Death rate	11.4 deaths/1,000 population (2022)^[2]
Life expectancy	79.3 years (2020)^[2]
• male	76.3 years (2020)^[2]
• female	82.4 years (2020)^[2]
Fertility rate	1.64 children born/woman (2022)
Infant mortality rate	2.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2020)^[2]
Net migration rate	2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020)^[2]
Age structure
0–14 years	16.2 % (2022)^[3]
15–64 years	63.4 % (2022)^[3]
65 and over	20.4 % (2022)^[3]
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2018)^[4]
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech
Major ethnic	Czech 64.3% (2011)^[2] ^[fn 1]
Minor ethnic	Moravian 5% Slovak 1.4% other 1.8% unspecified 27.5% (2011)^[2]
Language
Official	Czech
Spoken	Czech (official) 95.4% Slovak 1.6% other 3% (2011 census)^[2]

Population density in the Czech Republic by district

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1790	4,444,000	—
1800	4,659,000	+0.47%
1810	4,870,000	+0.44%
1820	5,272,791	+0.80%
1830	5,996,778	+1.29%
1840	6,378,071	+0.62%
1850	6,826,465	+0.68%
1860	7,277,801	+0.64%
1870	7,698,830	+0.56%
1880	8,196,719	+0.63%
1890	8,703,318	+0.60%
1900	9,333,853	+0.70%
1910	10,035,575	+0.73%
1921	10,002,030	−0.03%
1930	10,648,057	+0.70%
1950	8,925,122	−0.88%
1961	9,588,016	+0.65%
1970	9,805,157	+0.25%
1980	10,326,792	+0.52%
1991	10,308,682	−0.02%
2001	10,224,192	−0.08%
2011	10,436,560	+0.21%
2021	10,524,167	+0.08%
Source: Czech Statistical Office

Population

With an estimated population of 10,516,707 as of 2022, compared to 9.3 million at the beginning of the 20th century, the population growth of the Czech Republic has been limited, due to low fertility rates and loss of population in and around World Wars I and II. Population loss during World War I was approximately 350,000. At the beginning of World War II the population of the Czech Republic reached its maximum (11.2 million). Due to the expulsion of the German residents after World War II, the Czech Republic lost about 3 million inhabitants and in 1947 the population was only 8.8 million. Population growth resumed, and in 1994 the population was 10.33 million.

From 1994 to 2003 natural growth was slightly negative (−0.15% per year) and the population decreased to 10.2 million. Since 2005, natural growth has been positive, but in recent times the most important influence on the population of the Czech Republic has been immigration: approximately 300,000 during the 2010s.

• One birth every 5 minutes
• One death every 5 minutes
• One net migrant every 44 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 131 minutes

^[5]

Total population

Census date	Population
31 December 1857	7,016,531
31 December 1869	7,617,230
31 December 1880	8,222,013
31 December 1890	8,665,421
31 December 1900	9,372,214
31 December 1910	10,078,637
15 February 1921	10,009,587
1 December 1930	10,674,386
1 March 1950	8,896,133
1 March 1961	9,571,531
1 December 1970	9,807,697
1 November 1980	10,291,927
3 March 1991	10,302,215
1 March 2001	10,230,060
25 March 2011	10,436,560
27 March 2021	10,524,167

Life expectancy

total population: 79.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 56th

male: 76.55 years

female: 82.61 years (2021 est.)

Death rate

10.72 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 23rd

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.^[6]

 

Life expectancy since 1875

 

Life expectancy since 1960 by gender

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	66.86
1955–1960	69.59
1960–1965	70.35
1965–1970	69.99
1970–1975	70.04
1975–1980	70.64
1980–1985	70.78
1985–1990	71.46
1990–1995	72.50
1995–2000	74.23
2000–2005	75.54
2005–2010	76.98
2010–2015	78.17

Infant mortality rate

Year	Rate
2006	3.3
2007	3.1
2008	2.8
2009	2.9
2010	2.7
2014	2.4
2021	2.4

Fertility

 

Czech Republic total fertility rate by region (2014)^[7] Birth rate :8.75 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 207th Total fertility rate :1.83 children born/woman (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 205th Mother's mean age at first birth :28.5 years (2019 est.)

1.9 – 2.1   1.7 – 1.9   1.5 – 1.7   1.4 – 1.5   1.3 – 1.4   < 1.3

Population density and urban areas

Main article: List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic

Name	Population (2021)^[8]	Area (km²)	Region
Prague	1,335,084	496	Prague
Brno	382,405	230	South Moravian Region
Ostrava	284,982	214	Moravian-Silesian Region
Plzeň	175,219	138	Plzeň Region
Liberec	104,261	106	Liberec Region
Olomouc	100,514	103	Olomouc Region

Age structure

2020
0–14 years: 15.17% (male 834,447 /female 789,328)
15–24 years: 9.2% (male 508,329 /female 475,846)
25–54 years: 43.29% (male 2,382,899 /female 2,249,774)
55–64 years: 12.12% (male 636,357 /female 660,748)
65 years and over: 20.23% (male 907,255 /female 1,257,515)

Median age

• total: 43.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 28th
• male: 42 years
• female: 44.7 years (2020 est.)

• Age structure over time
•  

  1980

•  

  1990

•  

  1999

•  

  2007

Vital statistics

 

Live births and deaths in the Czech Republic

Source: Czech Demographic Handbook 2007^[9]

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates^[10]	Migration change^[11]	Induced abortions^[12]
1900	9,334,000	330,662	227,920	102,742	35.4	24.4	11.0	4.85
1901	9,405,000	325,514	221,052	104,462	34.6	23.5	11.1	4.76
1902	9,475,000	333,619	222,457	111,162	35.2	23.5	11.7	4.68
1903	9,545,000	318,275	218,448	99,827	33.3	22.9	10.5	4.6
1904	9,615,000	319,433	222,276	97,157	33.2	23.1	10.1	4.52
1905	9,685,000	300,414	232,999	67,415	31.0	24.1	7.0	4.44
1906	9,754,000	313,449	203,182	110,267	32.1	20.8	11.3	4.36
1907	9,825,000	306,356	210,721	95,635	31.2	21.4	9.7	4.27
1908	9,895,000	308,504	210,101	98,403	31.2	21.2	9.9	4.19
1909	9,965,000	305,426	210,047	95,379	30.6	21.1	9.6	4.11
1910	10,036,000	295,617	196,728	98,889	29.5	19.6	9.9	4.03
1911	10,099,000	289,058	206,266	82,792	28.6	20.4	8.2	3.92
1912	10,157,000	280,368	203,324	77,044	27.6	20.0	7.6	3.82
1913	10,221,000	275,060	190,475	84,585	26.9	18.6	8.3	3.71
1914	10,283,000	269,142	188,838	80,304	26.2	18.4	7.8	3.6
1915	10,286,000	197,542	201,280	-3,738	19.2	19.6	-0.4	3.5
1916	10,222,000	140,211	186,381	-46,170	13.7	18.2	-4.5	3.39
1917	10,128,000	126,916	188,649	-61,733	12.5	18.6	-6.1	3.28
1918	10,004,000	120,579	236,035	-115,456	12.1	23.6	-11.5	3.18
1919	9,922,000	189,675	177,428	12,247	19.1	17.9	1.2	3.07
1920	9,978,000	244,668	176,562	68,106	24.5	17.7	6.8	2.964
1921	10,002,000	257,281	161,321	95,960	25.7	16.1	9.6	3.035
1922	10,113,000	248,728	163,366	85,362	24.6	16.2	8.4	2.882	-14,842
1923	10,198,000	241,230	142,335	98,895	23.7	14.0	9.7	2.768	-10,930
1924	10,278,000	228,894	146,098	82,796	22.3	14.2	8.1	2.590	-7,856
1925	10,370,000	225,555	146,450	79,105	21.8	14.1	7.6	2.484	-8,720
1926	10,443,000	219,802	148,298	71,504	21.0	14.2	6.8	2.392	-6,488
1927	10,496,000	208,711	155,479	53,232	19.9	14.8	5.1	2.237	-5,501
1928	10,549,000	208,942	147,064	61,878	19.8	13.9	5.9	2.209	-6,634
1929	10,598,000	203,064	155,493	47,571	19.2	14.7	4.5	2.124	-5,440
1930	10,648,000	207,224	142,159	65,065	19.5	13.4	6.1	2.149	-4,948
1931	10,702,000	196,214	144,534	51,680	18.3	13.5	4.8	2.026	-3,105
1932	10,750,000	190,397	142,997	47,400	17.7	13.3	4.4	1.966	-1,246
1933	10,791,000	176,201	140,906	35,295	16.3	13.1	3.3	1.826	-211
1934	10,826,000	171,042	135,914	35,128	15.8	12.6	3.2	1.774	-1,069
1935	10,853,000	161,748	140,878	20,870	14.9	13.0	1.9	1.678	-1,044
1936	10,873,000	157,992	139,093	18,899	14.5	12.8	1.7	1.664	-1,538
1937	10,889,000	155,996	139,558	16,438	14.3	12.8	1.5	1.690	-2,997
1938	10,877,000	163,525	143,115	20,410	15.0	13.2	1.9	1.847
1939	11,106,000	192,344	146,976	45,368	17.3	13.2	4.1	1.916
1940	11,160,000	218,043	153,499	64,544	19.5	13.8	5.8	2.195
1941	11,129,000	208,913	152,048	56,865	18.8	13.7	5.1	2.279
1942	11,054,000	199,259	153,096	46,163	18.0	13.8	4.2	2.422
1943	11,035,000	225,379	153,349	72,030	20.4	13.9	6.5	2.784
1944	11,109,000	230,183	161,457	68,726	20.7	14.5	6.2	2.796
1945	10,693,000	194,182	184,944	9,238	18.2	17.3	0.9	2.673
1946	9,523,000	210,454	134,568	75,886	22.1	14.1	8.0	3.254
1947	8,765,000	206,745	105,277	101,468	23.6	12.0	11.6	3.050	49,731
1948	8,893,000	197,837	101,501	96,336	22.2	11.4	10.8	2.886	720
1949	8,893,000	185,484	104,632	80,852	20.9	11.8	9.1	2.728	3,202
1950	8,930,000	188,341	103,203	85,138	21.1	11.6	9.5	2.801	16,784
1951	9,000,000	185,570	102,658	82,912	20.6	11.4	9.2	2.763	12,910
1952	9,075,000	180,143	97,726	82,417	19.9	10.8	9.1	2.701	21,022
1953	9,140,000	172,547	98,837	73,710	18.9	10.8	8.1	2.611	11,325
1954	9,200,000	168,402	99,636	68,766	18.3	10.8	7.5	2.581	-2,376
1955	9,270,000	165,874	93,300	72,574	17.9	10.1	7.8	2.578	3,437
1956	9,330,000	162,509	93,526	68,983	17.4	10.0	7.4	2.568	6,176
1957	9,390,000	155,429	98,687	56,742	16.6	10.5	6.0	2.495	6,832
1958	9,435,000	141,762	93,697	48,065	15.0	9.9	5.1	2.305	6,118	49,035
1959	9,465,000	128,982	97,159	31,823	13.6	10.3	3.4	2.121	8,054	61,914
1960	9,490,000	128,879	93,863	35,016	13.6	9.9	3.7	2.113	6,521	67,550
1961	9,587,000	131,019	94,973	36,046	13.7	9.9	3.8	2.133	4,911	70,062
1962	9,625,000	133,557	104,318	29,239	13.9	10.8	3.0	2.140	5,823	66,031
1963	9,671,000	148,840	100,129	48,711	15.4	10.4	5.0	2.332	8,277	51,470
1964	9,728,000	154,420	101,984	52,436	15.9	10.5	5.4	2.356	4,814	51,525
1965	9,779,000	147,438	105,108	42,330	15.1	10.7	4.3	2.178	3,528	58,554
1966	9,821,000	141,162	105,784	35,378	14.4	10.8	3.6	2.01	2,127	65,818
1967	9,853,000	138,448	108,967	29,481	14.1	11.1	3.0	1.90	-3,267	69,850
1968	9,876,000	137,437	115,195	22,242	13.9	11.7	2.3	1.83	-1,562	72,488
1969	9,897,000	143,165	120,653	22,512	14.5	12.2	2.3	1.86	-2,724	74,263
1970	9,800,000	147,865	123,327	24,538	15.1	12.6	2.5	1.91	-4,350	71,893
1971	9,827,000	154,180	122,375	31,805	15.7	12.5	3.2	1.98	2,490	68,652
1972	9,868,000	163,661	119,205	44,456	16.6	12.1	4.5	2.07	2,884	65,079
1973	9,922,000	181,750	124,437	57,313	18.3	12.5	5.8	2.29	4,615	55,898
1974	9,988,000	194,215	126,809	67,406	19.4	12.7	6.7	2.43	3,052	56,969
1975	10,059,000	191,776	124,314	67,462	19.1	12.4	6.7	2.40	2,401	55,511
1976	10,126,000	187,378	125,232	62,146	18.5	12.4	6.1	2.36	2,630	56,889
1977	10,187,000	181,763	126,214	55,549	17.8	12.4	5.5	2.32	1,307	61,114
1978	10,242,000	178,901	127,136	51,765	17.5	12.4	5.1	2.32	2,064	63,904
1979	10,292,000	172,112	127,949	44,163	16.7	12.4	4.3	2.29	2,494	64,505
1980	10,283,000	153,801	135,537	18,264	15.0	13.2	1.8	2.10	1,856	68,930
1981	10,301,000	144,438	130,407	14,031	14.0	12.7	1.4	2.02	1,717	71,574
1982	10,315,000	141,738	130,765	10,973	13.7	12.7	1.1	2.01	1,748	74,574
1983	10,324,000	137,431	134,474	2,957	13.3	13.0	0.3	1.96	2,383	75,037
1984	10,330,000	136,941	132,188	4,753	13.3	12.8	0.5	1.97	2,621	79,534
1985	10,337,000	135,881	131,641	4,240	13.1	12.7	0.4	1.96	2,195	83,042
1986	10,341,000	133,356	132,585	771	12.9	12.8	0.1	1.94	3,013	83,564
1987	10,349,000	130,921	127,244	3,677	12.7	12.3	0.4	1.91	2,721	109,626
1988	10,356,000	132,667	125,694	6,973	12.8	12.1	0.7	1.94	2,544	113,730
1989	10,362,000	128,356	127,747	609	12.4	12.3	0.1	1.87	1,459	111,683
1990	10,363,000	130,564	129,166	1,398	12.6	12.5	0.1	1.89	624	111,268
1991	10,309,000	129,354	124,290	5,064	12.5	12.1	0.5	1.86	2,876	106,042
1992	10,318,000	121,705	120,337	1,368	11.8	11.7	0.1	1.71	11,781	94,180
1993	10,331,000	121,025	118,185	2,840	11.7	11.4	0.3	1.67	5,476	70,634
1994	10,336,000	106,579	117,373	-10,794	10.3	11.4	-1.0	1.44	9,942	54,836
1995	10,331,000	96,097	117,913	-21,816	9.3	11.4	-2.1	1.28	9,999	49,531
1996	10,315,000	90,446	112,782	-22,336	8.8	10.9	-2.2	1.19	10,129	48,086
1997	10,304,000	90,657	112,744	-22,087	8.8	10.9	-2.1	1.17	12,075	45,022
1998	10,295,000	90,535	109,527	-18,992	8.8	10.6	-1.8	1.16	9,488	42,959
1999	10,283,000	89,471	109,768	-20,297	8.7	10.7	-2.0	1.13	8,774	39,382
2000	10,273,000	90,910	109,001	-18,091	8.8	10.6	-1.8	1.14	6,539	34,623
2001	10,224,000	90,715	107,755	-17,040	8.9	10.5	-1.7	1.14	-8,551	32,528
2002	10,201,000	92,786	108,243	-15,457	9.1	10.6	-1.5	1.17	12,290	31,142
2003	10,207,000	93,685	111,288	-17,603	9.2	10.9	-1.7	1.18	25,789	29,298
2004	10,216,000	97,664	107,177	-9,513	9.6	10.5	-0.9	1.23	18,635	27,574
2005	10,236,000	102,211	107,938	-5,727	10.0	10.5	-0.6	1.28	36,229	26,453
2006	10,269,000	105,831	104,441	1,390	10.3	10.2	0.1	1.33	34,720	25,352
2007	10,334,000	114,632	104,636	9,996	11.1	10.1	1.0	1.44	83,945	25,414
2008	10,425,000	119,570	104,948	14,622	11.5	10.1	1.4	1.50	71,790	25,760
2009	10,488,000	118,348	107,421	10,927	11.3	10.2	1.0	1.49	28,344	24,636
2010	10,517,000	117,153	106,844	10,309	11.1	10.2	1	1.49	15,648	23,998
2011	10,514,000	108,673	106,848	1,825	10.4	10.2	0.2	1.43	16,889	24,055
2012	10,516,100	108,576	108,189	387	10.3	10.3	0.0	1.45	10,293	23,032
2013	10,512,400	106,751	109,160	-2,409	10.2	10.4	-0.2	1.46	-1,297	22,714
2014	10,538,300	109,860	105,665	4,195	10.4	10.0	0.4	1.53	21,661	21,893
2015	10,553,800	110,764	111,173	-409	10.5	10.5	0.0	1.57	15,977	20,403
2016	10,578,800	112,663	107,750	4,913	10.7	10.2	0.5	1.63	20,063	20,406
2017	10,610,000	114,405	111,443	2,962	10.8	10.5	0.3	1.69	28,273	19,415
2018	10,649,800	114,036	112,920	1,116	10.7	10.6	0.1	1.71	38,629	18,298
2019	10,693,939	112,231	112,362	-131	10.5	10.5	-0.0	1.71	44,270	17,751
2020	10,700,155	110,200	129,289	-19,089	10.3	12.1	-1.8	1.71	26,927	16,886
2021	10,722,026	111,793	139,891	-28,098	10.6	13.3	-2.7	1.83	49,969	15,492
2022^[13]	10,759,525	101,299	120,219	-18,920	9.5	11.4	-1.9	1.64	329,742	16,438
2023	10,873,553

Current vital statistics

^[14]

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January – September 2022	77,798	88,324	-10,526
January – September 2023	69,219	82,553	-13,334
Difference	-8,579 (-11.0%)	-6,771 (-7.66%)	-2,808

• Deaths from January-September 2021 =   103,164
• Deaths from January-September 2022 =   88,324
• Deaths from January-September 2023 =   81,854 ^[15]

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.I.2021): ^[16]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 275 103	5 426 674	10 701 777	100
0–4	290 444	276 818	567 262	5.30
5–9	285 498	271 459	556 957	5.20
10–14	304 995	290 527	595 522	5.56
15–19	252 007	238 443	490 450	4.58
20–24	245 786	232 124	477 910	4.47
25–29	320 181	300 744	620 925	5.80
30–34	370 523	348 408	718 931	6.72
35–39	389 652	363 658	753 310	7.04
40–44	460 462	432 859	893 321	8.35
45–49	452 969	429 617	882 586	8.25
50–54	352 166	338 917	691 083	6.46
55–59	336 205	333 528	669 733	6.26
60–64	304 764	320 701	625 465	5.84
65-69	313 014	359 404	672 418	6.28
70-74	274 177	347 000	621 177	5.80
75-79	170 104	247 097	417 201	3.90
80-84	90 188	153 949	244 137	2.28
85-89	44 759	93 731	138 490	1.29
90-94	14 784	39 027	53 811	0.50
95-99	2 177	8 066	10 243	0.10
100-104	221	530	751	0.01
105-109	27	67	94	<0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	880 937	838 804	1 719 741	16.07
15–64	3 484 715	3 338 999	6 823 714	63.76
65+	909 451	1 248 871	2 158 322	20.17

Education

Literacy

definition: NA

total population: 99%

male: 99%

female: 99% (2011 est.)

Employment and income

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

Total: 8%. Country comparison to the world: 155th

Male: 7.2%

Female: 9.2% (2020 est.)

Ethnic groups

The majority of the 10.5 million inhabitants of the Czech Republic are ethnically and linguistically Czech (95%). They are descendants of Slavic people from the Black Sea-Carpathian region who settled in Bohemia, Moravia and parts of present-day Austria in the 6th century AD. Other ethnic groups include Germans, Romani people, Poles, and Hungarians. Historical minorities like Germans and Poles are declining due to assimilation. There is also a growing community from Vietnam. Other ethnic communities like Greeks, Turks, Italians, and Yugoslavs are found in Prague. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovaks living in the Czech Republic have comprised roughly 3% of the population.

There are different groups of national and ethnic minorities in the Czech Republic. The only "old minority" is Poles in the Trans-Olza region, while the "new minorities" are scattered among the majority population (generally in the larger towns). While some of the minorities have the whole social structure of Czech society^{[clarification needed]} (Poles, Slovaks, Greeks and Ukrainians), other represent only some of the social groups (i.e. Russian newcomers of middle class, and Romani people who generally represent the underclass).^[17]

1880–1910

Population of Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia by language^[18]

Language	1880	1890	1900	1910
Czech	62.5%	62.4%	62.4%	62.9%
German	35.8%	35.6%	35.1%	34.6%
Polish	1.0%	1.2%	1.6%	1.6%
Other	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	0.9%
Total population	8,222,013	8,665,421	9,372,140	10,078,637

After World War I

Population of the Czech Republic according to ethnic group 1921–2011

Ethnic group	census 1921 ^1		census 1930		census 1950		census 1961		census 1970		census 1980		census 1991		census 2001		census 2011^[19]		census 2021
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Czechs	6,758,983	67.5	7,304,588	68.3	8,343,558	93.9	9,023,501	94.2	9,270,617	94.4	9,733,925	94.6	8,363,768	81.2	9,249,777	90.5	6,732,104	63.7	6,415,104	61.0
Moravians													1,362,313	13.2	380,474	3.7	522,474	4.9	556,641	5.3
Silesians													44,446	0.4	10,878	0.1	12,231	0.1	31,301	0.3
Slovaks	15,732	0.2	44,451	0.4	258,025	2.9	275,997	2.9	320,998	3.3	359,370	3.5	314,877	3.1	193,190	1.9	149,140	1.4	162,578	1.5
Poles	103,521	1.0	92,689	0.9	70,816	0.8	66,540	0.7	64,074	0.7	66,123	0.6	59,383	0.6	51,968	0.5	39,269	0.4	38,218	0.4
Germans	3,061,369	30.6	3,149,820	29.5	159,938	1.8	134,143	1.4	80,903	0.8	58,211	0.6	48,556	0.5	39,106	0.4	18,772	0.3	24,632	0.2
Ukrainians	13,343	0.1	22,657	0.2	19,384	0.2	19,549	0.2	9,794	0.1	10,271	0.1	8,220	0.1	22,112	0.2	53,603	0.5	92,892	0.9
Rusyns													1,926	0.0	1,106	0.0	739	0.0
Russians									6,619	0.1	5,051	0.0	5,062	0.0	12,369	0.1	18,021	0.2	34,506	0.3
Vietnamese													421	0.0	17,462	0.2	29,825	0.3	38,723	0.4
Hungarians	7,049	0.1	11,427	0.1	13,201	0.1	15,152	0.2	18,472	0.2	19,676	0.2	19,932	0.2	14,672	0.1	9,049	0.1
Romani people^[20]			227	0.0	19,770	0.2	19,392	0.2					32,903	0.3	11,746	0.1	5,199	0.0	21,691	0.2
Jews	35,699	0.4	37,093	0.4									218	0.0			521	0.0
Yugoslavs			4,749	0.0			3,957	0.0							3,386	0.0
Romanians			966	0.0			3,205	0.0					1,034	0.0	1,238	0.0	1,921	0.0
Others/undeclared	10,038	0.1	5,719	0.1	11,441	0.1	10,095	0.1	36,220	0.4	39,300	0.4	39,129	0.4	220,660	2.6	2,739,488^1	26.0
Total	10,005,734		10,674,386		8,896,133		9,571,531		9,807,697		10,291,927		10,302,215		10,230,060		10,436,560		10,524,167
^1 On the territory of the census date.

¹ In 2011 a large part of the population did not claim any ethnicity, before the census it was widely mediatized that the question is not mandatory. The vast majority of those who did so are presumed to be ethnic Czechs, number of whom dropped by roughly the same amount that the number of undeclared people rose, circa 2.5 million.

•  

  Czechs in 1991

•  

  Czechs in 2001

•  

  Czechs in 2011

The legal position of the minorities is defined foremost in the Act No. 273/2001 Coll. (The Rights of the Minorities Act) which implements the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and Recommendation of the Council of Europe No. 1201. There is a number of other enactments which to lesser extent deal with the minorities.

A special situation applies in the case of Moravians and Silesians, who are frequently allocated within the group of Czechs when it comes to the statistical data.

Officially recognized minorities

Main articles: Bulgarians in Czechoslovakia, Croats in the Czech Republic, Germans in the Czech Republic, Greeks in the Czech Republic, Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Roma in the Czech Republic, Ukrainians in the Czech Republic, and Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic

Minorities, which "traditionally and on a long term basis live within the territory of the Czech Republic" enjoy some privileges. As of 2022 there are 14 such officially recognized minorities, which are (alphabetically): Belarusians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Romani people, Russians, Rusyns, Serbians, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Vietnamese.^[21]

Citizens belonging to the officially recognized minorities enjoy the right to "use their language in communication with authorities and in courts of law". Article 25 of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms provides the right of the national and ethnic minorities to education and communication with authorities in their own language. Act No. 500/2004 Coll. (The Administrative Rule) in its paragraph 16 (4) (Procedural Language) provides that a citizen of the Czech Republic who belongs to a national or an ethnic minority, which traditionally and on a long-term basis lives within the territory of the Czech Republic, has the right to address an administrative agency and proceed before it in the language of the minority. In the case that the administrative agency does not have an employee with knowledge of the language, the agency is bound to obtain a translator at the agency's own expense. According to Act No. 273/2001 (About The Rights of Members of Minorities) paragraph 9 (The right to use language of a national minority in dealing with authorities and in the courts of law) the same also applies to members of national minorities in the courts of law.

Bulgarians

Main article: Bulgarians in Czechoslovakia

The economic migration of Bulgarians to the Czech Republic began in the 1990s. 4,363 citizens claimed to have Bulgarian nationality in the 2001 census. They mostly live in the large cities and towns, such as Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Ústí nad Labem, Děčín, and Havířov. Nowadays the newcomers from Bulgaria aim for these areas in particular, where they can join an already established community. Many of these economic immigrants have dual citizenship of both the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. However most of the recent immigrants still only have Bulgarian citizenship.

The Bulgarian Cultural Organisation publishes the magazine Roden Glas, while a folklore organisation Kytka promotes traditional Bulgarian dances. Among other organisations are Pirin, Zaedno, Vazraždane and Hyshove.^[22]

As an officially recognized minority the Bulgarian citizens of the Czech Republic enjoy the right to use their language in communication with authorities and in the courts of law. They also enjoy a number of other rights connected to the status of recognized minority, e.g. the right to education in their own language: the first Bulgarian school in the current Czech Republic was established in 1946 in Prague.

Germans

Main article: Germans in the Czech Republic

 

Czech districts with 50% or more ethnic German population^[23] in 1935

The German minority of the Czech Republic, historically the largest minority of the country, was almost entirely removed when 3 million were forcibly expelled in 1945–6 on the basis of the Potsdam agreement. The constitution guarantees rights for minority languages, however there are 13 municipalities with German minority constituting 10% of population, which qualifies for such provisions.^[24] There is no bilingual education system in Western and Northern Bohemia, where the German minority is mostly concentrated. However, this is in large part due to the absence of German-speaking youth, a heritage of the post-war policy of the Communist government.

According to the 2001 census there remain 13 municipalities and settlements in the Czech Republic with more than 10% Germans.^[24]

Many^{[citation needed]} representatives of expellees' organizations support the erection of bilingual signs in all formerly German-speaking territory as a visible sign of the bilingual linguistic and cultural heritage of the region, but their efforts are not supported by some of the current inhabitants, as the vast majority of the current population is not of German descent.

The German-Czech Declaration of 21 January 1997 covered the two most critical issues—the role of some Sudeten Germans in the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and their expulsion after World War II.^[25]

Greeks

Main article: Greeks in the Czech Republic

Another influential minority are Greeks. Large numbers of Greeks arrived in Czechoslovakia during the end of the Greek Civil War. The first transports of Greek children arrived in 1948 and 1949. Later, more transports, also including adults, arrived.^[26] They were partly leftists, communists and guerillas with their relatives, hence the willingness of Czechoslovak government to allow the immigration.^[27] This was viewed rather as a temporary solution. After the defeat of DSE and other left-wing guerillas, the Greeks stayed in Czechoslovakia. In total more than 12,000 Greeks immigrated to Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1950.^[27] Today, there are about 7000 Greeks in the country (3219 according to 2001 census data),^[27] mostly in the 3 biggest towns – Prague, Brno, Ostrava – and also in Bohumín, Havířov, Jeseník, Karviná, Krnov, Šumperk, Třinec, Vrbno pod Pradědem and Žamberk (apart from the last one these towns are in Silesia).^[28]

Poles

Main article: Polish minority in the Czech Republic

The most concentrated linguistic minority in the Czech Republic are ethnic Poles, historically the plurality, today constituting about 10% of the population of Karviná and Frýdek-Místek districts. Poles have the right to use their language in official dealings; the public media (Czech TV and Czech Radio) regularly broadcast in Polish; and there are many Polish primary and secondary schools in the area. The Polish minority has been decreasing substantially since World War II as education in Polish was difficult to obtain, while Czech authorities did not permit bilingual signs to maintain Polish awareness among the population.

The erection of bilingual signs has technically been permitted since 2001, if a minority constitutes 10% of the population of a municipality. The requirement that a petition be signed by the members of minority was cancelled, thus simplifying the whole process.^[29] Still, only a couple of villages with large Polish minorities have bilingual signs (Vendryně/Wędrynia for instance).

Romanis

Main article: Romani people in the Czech Republic

Another minority is the Roma, who nonetheless have very little influence on Czech policy. Around 90% of the Roma that lived in the Czech Republic prior to World War II were exterminated by the Nazi Porajmos. The Roma there now are 80% post-war immigrants from Slovakia or Hungary, or the descendants thereof. In total, the Roma in the CR now number around 200,000.^[30] There is Romani press in the CR, written in both Czech and Romani, but Romani radio is broadcast in Czech and there is no Romani television. Romani is also absent from legislative, judiciary, and other political texts but it has recently entered some university and elementary school courses. Life expectancy, literacy, median wage, school enrolment, and other socio-economic markers remain low while Roma compose the majority of prison and habitual offender populations despite accounting for only a fraction of a percent of Czech population.^[31]

Immigration

 

Foreign population in the Czech Republic in 2020

According to the Czech Statistical Office as of 31 December 2020 there were 632,570 legal foreign residents in the Czech Republic (5.1% of the total population).^[32] Residents from Ukraine are the largest group (165,356), followed by residents of Slovakia (124,544). There are also Asian immigrant communities in the Czech Republic. The largest is the Vietnamese one (62,842) followed by the Mongolians (10,135) and the Chinese (7,940). During the communist era the governments of Czechoslovakia and Vietnam had a deal concerning the education of Vietnamese people in Czechoslovakia. Vietnamese people came to Czechoslovakia for the first time in 1956 and then the number of new migrants grew until the fall of communism. First generation Vietnamese work mostly as small-scale businessmen in markets. Still, many Vietnamese are without Czech citizenship. One of the towns with the largest Vietnamese communities is Cheb. Other large immigrant groups come from Russia (41,692), Poland (20,733), Germany (20,861), Bulgaria (17,917) and Romania (18,396).

Recent trends

Countries with at least 1,000 people, immigrating each year.^[33][34]

Country	2016	2017	2018
Ukraine	5,778	10,340	16,747
Slovakia	6,706	6,328	6,671
Russia	2,404	2,891	3,388
Vietnam	1,752	2,196	2,264
Romania	1,648	1,829	2,184
Bulgaria	1,331	1,620	1,977
Mongolia	709	1,165	1,498
Hungary	911	1,238	1,330
Belarus	421	657	1,145
China	551	823	1,123
United States	1,063	1,073	1,101
Serbia	230	414	1,041
Total	37,503	45,957	58,148

Foreign-born population

Largest groups of foreign residents^[35]

Nationality	Population (2022)
Ukraine	636,282
Slovakia	117,265
Vietnam	66,340
Russia	43,498
Romania	19,724
Poland	17,884
Bulgaria	17,673
Germany	14,032
Mongolia	11,968
Hungary	10,517
United States	9,745
Kazakhstan	9,214
India	8,469
Belarus	8,064
China	7,981
United Kingdom	7,928
Moldova	7,169
Serbia	6,077
Italy	5,994
Turkey	4,935
Philippines	4,867
France	4,122
Croatia	3,272
Uzbekistan	3,197
South Korea	2,814
North Macedonia	2,725
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,403
Netherlands	2,389
Armenia	2,197
Spain	2,084
Japan	2,036
Greece	1,910
Azerbaijan	1,909
Georgia	1,783
Egypt	1,654
Thailand	1,583
Syria	1,569
Kosovo	1,534
Israel	1,482
Kyrgyzstan	1,427

See also

• Armenians in the Czech Republic
• Chinese people in the Czech Republic
• Croats in the Czech Republic
• Germans in the Czech Republic
• Greeks in the Czech Republic
• History of the Jews in the Czech Republic
• Koreans in the Czech Republic
• Macedonians in the Czech Republic
• Mongolians in the Czech Republic
• Polish minority in the Czech Republic
• Romani people in the Czech Republic
• Slovaks in the Czech Republic
• Turks in the Czech Republic
• Ukrainians in the Czech Republic
• Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic

Languages

 

The most commonly known foreign languages in the Czech Republic in 2005. According to Eurostat^[36]

The Czech language (divided into three dialects in Bohemia, four dialects in Moravia, and two dialects in Czech Silesia) is the official language of the state. There is also the transitional Cieszyn Silesian dialect as well as the Polish language in Cieszyn Silesia, both spoken in Czech Silesia. Various Sudeten German dialects are currently practically extinct: present Czech Germans speak mainly Czech and/or Standard German. Czech Sign Language is the language of most of the deaf community.

For other languages spoken in the Czech Republic, see the above section on officially recognised minorities.

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Czech Republic

 

Religious structure in 1991, 2001 and 2011.

Religious affiliations in the Czech Republic, census 1991–2011^{[37][38][39][40]}

	1991		2001		2011		2021 p
	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%
Roman Catholic Church	4,021,385	39.0	2,740,780	26.8	1,082,463	10.4	741,019	7.0
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren	203,996	2.0	117,212	1.1	51,858	0.5	32,577	0.3
Czechoslovak Hussite Church	178,036	1.7	99,103	1.0	39,229	0.4	23,610	0.2
Believers identified with another specific religion	120,317	1.7	330,993	3.2	290,034	2.8	577,079	5.5
Believers not identified with any specific religion					705,368	6.8	960,201	9.1
No religion	4,112,864	39.9	6,039,991	59.0	3,612,804	34.2	5,024,416	47.7
No response, unknown	1,665,617	16.2	901,981	8.8	4,774,323	45.2	3,167,774	30.1
Total population	10,302,215		10,230,060		10,436,560		10,524,167

The 2021 census did not contain list of religious organisations and they had to be written by the respondent (unlike in the previous ones). Therefore another 231 thousand people responded with catholicism or similar response, 71 thousand people identified simply with Christianity and 27 thousand people claimed to be protestants or evangelicals. Moreover, after doubling their followers the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia was the 2nd strongest church in 2021 census with 40,681 faithful.

Almost half (45.2%) of the Czech population prefer not to respond to religious questions in the Census. Others claim to have no religion or that they are without religious affiliation (34.2%). In comparison, one in every five claims to have some personal belief (20.6%).

The largest denominations are Roman Catholicism, estimated at 10.3% of the population, Protestant (0.5%), Hussites (0.4%). Other organized religions, including non-organized believers, totalled about (9.4%) (as of Census 2011).

According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2005,^[41] 19% of Czech citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 50% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 30% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force"; the percentage of believers is thus the lowest of EU countries after Estonia with 16%.^[42]

See also

• Husák's Children

Notes

1. In 2011 a large part of the population did not claim any ethnicity, before the census it was widely mediatized that the question is not mandatory. The vast majority of those who did so are presumed to be ethnic Czechs, number of whom dropped by roughly the same amount that the number of undeclared people rose, circa 2.5 million. If the percentage of those who did not answer the question is added to the total percentage Czech amount, the total percentage of Czech's is estimated to be 89.7% of the population.

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2023". Czech Statistical Office. 23 May 2023.
2. "EUROPE :: CZECHIA". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
3. "Population: demographic situation, languages and religions". eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
4. "Zaostřeno na ženy a muže – 2019". CZSO.cz. Czech Statistical Office.
5. Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year.
6. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
7. "Total fertility rate by NUTS 3 region". Eurostat.
8. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2021". Czech Statistical Office. 30 April 2021.
9. "Czech Demographic Handbook 2007". Czech Statistical Office.
10. Max Roser (2014), "Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries", Our World in Data, Gapminder Foundation
11. "Czech Statistical Office – Population". Czech Statistical Office.
12. "Czech Statistical Office – Population". Czech Statistical Office.
13. "Výstupní objekt VDB".
14. "Population change - News Releases". Population change - News Releases.
15. "Number of deaths - weekly and monthly time series". Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
16. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
17. "Postavení národnostních menšin" (in Czech). Retrieved 1 December 2010.
18. [1] 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
19. "Tab. 614a Obyvatelstvo podle věku, národnosti a pohlaví" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
20. In census people can leave the "nationality" field empty and they can also write down any nationality or ethnicity they want. Most Romani people fill in the Czech nationality. Thus, the real number of Romani people in the country is estimated to be around 220,000. Petr Lhotka: Romové v České republice po roce 1989 20 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
21. "Government Council for National Minorities". Government of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
22. "Bulharská národnostní menšina" (in Czech). Vlada.cz. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
23. Statistický lexikon obcí v Republice československé I. Země česká. Prague. 1934.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    Statistický lexikon obcí v Republice československé II. Země moravskoslezská. Prague. 1935.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
24. Peter Josika: Mehrsprachig: Ein Faktor der Versöhnung at Prager Zeitung, 21 August 2007.
25. Wolff, Stefan (2000). German minorities in Europe: ethnic identity and cultural belonging. Berghahn Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-57181-504-0.
26. "Greeks in Czech Country". Dialogos-kpr.cz. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
27. [2] 11 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
28. Vangelis Liolios. "Podkladové materiály pro Radu vlády pro národnostní menšiny o situaci řecké menšiny v České republice" (PDF) (in Czech). Dialogs-kpr.cz. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
29. "Aktualności". www.polonica.cz. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
30. "European Commission – Languages eac". Ec.europa.eu. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
31. Říčan, Pavel (1998). S Romy žít budeme – jde o to jak: dějiny, současná situace, kořeny problémů, naděje společné budoucnosti (in Czech). Prague: Portál. ISBN 978-80-7178-250-6.
32. "R01Foreigners in the CR in the years 2004–2020 (as at 31 December)" (in Czech).
33. "Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic – 2018" CZSO
34. "Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic – 2019" CZSO
35. "Data on number of foreigners".
36. "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
37. "Population by denomination and sex: as measured by 1921, 1930, 1950, 1991 and 2001 censuses" (PDF) (in Czech and English). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
38. . Czso.cz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
39. (PDF) (in Czech). Czso.cz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
40. (PDF) (in Czech). Czso.cz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
41. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
42. (PDF). Eurobarometer. June 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2006.

External links

• Czech Statistical Office, state institution responsible to provide official data about Czech Republic