Demographics of the Czech Republic

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Czech Republic, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations.

Demographics of Czech Republic
Population of the Czech Republic on December 31st, 1960 to 2016 in millions, Eurostat and Czech Statistical Office data.
Population	10,693,939 (1 January 2020)[1]
Growth rate	0.004% (2020)[2]
Birth rate	8.9 births/1,000 population (2020)[2]
Death rate	10.7 deaths/1,000 population (2020)[2]
Life expectancy	79.3 years (2020)[2]
• male	76.3 years (2020)[2]
• female	82.4 years (2020)[2]
Fertility rate	1.48 children born/woman (2020)[2]
Infant mortality rate	2.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2020)[2]
Net migration rate	2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020)[2]
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2018)[3]
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech
Major ethnic	Czech 64.3% (2011)[2]
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.	±%
1820	5,272,791	—
1830	5,996,778	+13.7%
1840	6,378,071	+6.4%
1850	6,826,465	+7.0%
1860	7,277,801	+6.6%
1870	7,698,830	+5.8%
1880	8,196,719	+6.5%
1890	8,703,318	+6.2%
1900	9,333,853	+7.2%
1910	10,035,575	+7.5%
1921	10,002,030	−0.3%
1930	10,648,057	+6.5%
1950	8,925,122	−16.2%
1961	9,588,016	+7.4%
1970	9,805,157	+2.3%
1980	10,326,792	+5.3%
1991	10,308,682	−0.2%
2001	10,224,192	−0.8%
2011	10,496,672	+2.7%
2019	10,681,161	+1.8%
Source: Czech Statistical Office

Population

With an estimated population of 10,665,677 as of 2018, 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 1994-2003 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.

Population censuses

Czech national costumes from Western Bohemia (Chodsko Region)

Czech national costumes from Eastern Moravia (Slovácko Region)

Population of the Czech Republic

Census date	Population
31 Dec 1857	7,016,531
31 Dec 1869	7,617,230
31 Dec 1880	8,222,013
31 Dec 1890	8,665,421
31 Dec 1900	9,372,214
31 Dec 1910	10,078,637
15 Feb 1921	10,009,587
1 Dec 1930	10,674,386
1 Mar 1950	8,896,133
1 Mar 1961	9,571,531
1 Dec 1970	9,807,697
1 Nov 1980	10,291,927
3 Mar 1991	10,302,215
1 Mar 2001	10,230,060
25 Mar 2011	10,486,731

Vital statistics

Births and deaths

Source: Czech Demographic Handbook 2007[4]

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates[5]	Migration change[6]
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
1923	10,198,000	241,230	142,335	98,895	23.7	14.0	9.7	2.768
1924	10,278,000	228,894	146,098	82,796	22.3	14.2	8.1	2.590
1925	10,370,000	225,555	146,450	79,105	21.8	14.1	7.6	2.484
1926	10,443,000	219,802	148,298	71,504	21.0	14.2	6.8	2.392
1927	10,496,000	208,711	155,479	53,232	19.9	14.8	5.1	2.237
1928	10,549,000	208,942	147,064	61,878	19.8	13.9	5.9	2.209
1929	10,598,000	203,064	155,493	47,571	19.2	14.7	4.5	2.124
1930	10,648,000	207,224	142,159	65,065	19.5	13.4	6.1	2.149
1931	10,702,000	196,214	144,534	51,680	18.3	13.5	4.8	2.026
1932	10,750,000	190,397	142,997	47,400	17.7	13.3	4.4	1.966
1933	10,791,000	176,201	140,906	35,295	16.3	13.1	3.3	1.826
1934	10,826,000	171,042	135,914	35,128	15.8	12.6	3.2	1.774
1935	10,853,000	161,748	140,878	20,870	14.9	13.0	1.9	1.678
1936	10,873,000	157,992	139,093	18,899	14.5	12.8	1.7	1.664
1937	10,889,000	155,996	139,558	16,438	14.3	12.8	1.5	1.690
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
1948	8,893,000	197,837	101,501	96,336	22.2	11.4	10.8	2.886
1949	8,893,000	185,484	104,632	80,852	20.9	11.8	9.1	2.728
1950	8,930,000	188,341	103,203	85,138	21.1	11.6	9.5	2.801
1951	9,000,000	185,570	102,658	82,912	20.6	11.4	9.2	2.763
1952	9,075,000	180,143	97,726	82,417	19.9	10.8	9.1	2.701
1953	9,140,000	172,547	98,837	73,710	18.9	10.8	8.1	2.611
1954	9,200,000	168,402	99,636	68,766	18.3	10.8	7.5	2.581
1955	9,270,000	165,874	93,300	72,574	17.9	10.1	7.8	2.578
1956	9,330,000	162,509	93,526	68,983	17.4	10.0	7.4	2.568
1957	9,390,000	155,429	98,687	56,742	16.6	10.5	6.0	2.495
1958	9,435,000	141,762	93,697	48,065	15.0	9.9	5.1	2.305
1959	9,465,000	128,982	97,159	31,823	13.6	10.3	3.4	2.121
1960	9,490,000	128,879	93,863	35,016	13.6	9.9	3.7	2.113
1961	9,587,000	131,019	94,973	36,046	13.7	9.9	3.8	2.133
1962	9,625,000	133,557	104,318	29,239	13.9	10.8	3.0	2.140
1963	9,671,000	148,840	100,129	48,711	15.4	10.4	5.0	2.332
1964	9,728,000	154,420	101,984	52,436	15.9	10.5	5.4	2.356
1965	9,779,000	147,438	105,108	42,330	15.1	10.7	4.3	2.178
1966	9,821,000	141,162	105,784	35,378	14.4	10.8	3.6	2.008
1967	9,853,000	138,448	108,967	29,481	14.1	11.1	3.0	1.897
1968	9,876,000	137,437	115,195	22,242	13.9	11.7	2.3	1.827
1969	9,897,000	143,165	120,653	22,512	14.5	12.2	2.3	1.859
1970	9,800,000	147,865	123,327	24,538	15.1	12.6	2.5	1.913
1971	9,827,000	154,180	122,375	31,805	15.7	12.5	3.2	1.978
1972	9,868,000	163,661	119,205	44,456	16.6	12.1	4.5	2.074
1973	9,922,000	181,750	124,437	57,313	18.3	12.5	5.8	2.286
1974	9,988,000	194,215	126,809	67,406	19.4	12.7	6.7	2.431
1975	10,059,000	191,776	124,314	67,462	19.1	12.4	6.7	2.402
1976	10,126,000	187,378	125,232	62,146	18.5	12.4	6.1	2.362
1977	10,187,000	181,763	126,214	55,549	17.8	12.4	5.5	2.319
1978	10,242,000	178,901	127,136	51,765	17.5	12.4	5.1	2.324
1979	10,292,000	172,112	127,949	44,163	16.7	12.4	4.3	2.286
1980	10,283,000	153,801	135,537	18,264	15.0	13.2	1.8	2.096
1981	10,301,000	144,438	130,407	14,031	14.0	12.7	1.4	2.016
1982	10,315,000	141,738	130,765	10,973	13.7	12.7	1.1	2.007
1983	10,324,000	137,431	134,474	2,957	13.3	13.0	0.3	1.963
1984	10,330,000	136,941	132,188	4,753	13.3	12.8	0.5	1.966
1985	10,337,000	135,881	131,641	4,240	13.1	12.7	0.4	1.962
1986	10,341,000	133,356	132,585	771	12.9	12.8	0.1	1.935
1987	10,349,000	130,921	127,244	3,677	12.7	12.3	0.4	1.909
1988	10,356,000	132,667	125,694	6,973	12.8	12.1	0.7	1.940
1989	10,362,000	128,356	127,747	609	12.4	12.3	0.1	1.873
1990	10,363,000	130,564	129,166	1,398	12.6	12.5	0.1	1.893
1991	10,309,000	129,354	124,290	5,064	12.5	12.1	0.5	1.860
1992	10,318,000	121,705	120,337	1,368	11.8	11.7	0.1	1.714
1993	10,331,000	121,025	118,185	2,840	11.7	11.4	0.3	1.665
1994	10,336,000	106,579	117,373	-10,794	10.3	11.4	-1.0	1.438
1995	10,331,000	96,097	117,913	-21,816	9.3	11.4	-2.1	1.277
1996	10,315,000	90,446	112,782	-22,336	8.8	10.9	-2.2	1.185
1997	10,304,000	90,657	112,744	-22,087	8.8	10.9	-2.1	1.172
1998	10,295,000	90,535	109,527	-18,992	8.8	10.6	-1.8	1.156
1999	10,283,000	89,471	109,768	-20,297	8.7	10.7	-2.0	1.132
2000	10,273,000	90,910	109,001	-18,091	8.8	10.6	-1.8	1.143
2001	10,224,000	90,715	107,755	-17,040	8.9	10.5	-1.7	1.145
2002	10,201,000	92,786	108,243	-15,457	9.1	10.6	-1.5	1.171	12,290
2003	10,207,000	93,685	111,288	-17,603	9.2	10.9	-1.7	1.178	25,789
2004	10,216,000	97,664	107,177	-9,513	9.6	10.5	-0.9	1.226	18,635
2005	10,236,000	102,211	107,938	-5,727	10.0	10.5	-0.6	1.281	36,229
2006	10,269,000	105,831	104,441	1,390	10.3	10.2	0.1	1.327	34,720
2007	10,334,000	114,632	104,636	9,996	11.1	10.1	1.0	1.438	83,945
2008	10,425,000	119,570	104,948	14,622	11.5	10.1	1.4	1.497	71,790
2009	10,488,000	118,348	107,421	10,927	11.3	10.2	1.0	1.492	28,344
2010	10,517,000	117,153	106,844	10,309	11.1	10.2	0.9	1.493	15,648
2011	10,514,000	108,673	106,848	1,825	10.4	10.2	0.2	1.427	16,889
2012	10,516,100	108,576	108,189	387	10.3	10.3	0.0	1.452	10,293
2013	10,512,400	106,751	109,160	-2,409	10.2	10.4	-0.2	1.456	-1,297
2014	10,538,300	109,860	105,665	4,195	10.4	10.0	0.4	1.527	21,661
2015	10,553,800	110,764	111,173	-409	10.5	10.5	0.0	1.570	15,977
2016	10,578,800	112,663	107,750	4,913	10.7	10.2	0.5	1.630	20,064
2017	10,610,000	114,405	111,443	2,962	10.8	10.5	0.3	1.687	28,273
2018	10,649,800	114,036	112,920	1,116	10.7	10.6	0.1	1.708	38,629
2019	10,693,939	112,231	112,362	-131	10.5	10.5	-0.0	1.709	44,270

Current vital statistics

• Births January–March 2019 = 26,930
• Births January–March 2020 = 26,245
• Deaths January–March 2019 = 30,198
• Deaths January–March 2020 = 30,028
• Natural increase January–March 2019 = -3,268
• Natural increase January–March 2020 = -3,783

List of 20 largest cities (2019)

Prague

Brno

Ostrava

Name	Population[7]	Area (km²)	Region
Prague (Praha)	1 308 632	496	Prague
Brno	380 681	230	South Moravian Region
Ostrava	289 128	214	Moravian-Silesian Region
Plzeň	172 441	138	Plzeň Region
Liberec	104 445	106	Liberec Region
Olomouc	100 523	103	Olomouc Region
České Budějovice	94 014	56	South Bohemian Region
Ústí nad Labem	92 952	94	Ústí nad Labem Region
Hradec Králové	92 742	106	Hradec Králové Region
Pardubice	90 688	78	Pardubice Region
Zlín	74 997	119	Zlín Region
Havířov	71 903	32	Moravian-Silesian Region
Kladno	69 054	37	Central Bohemian Region
Most	66 186	87	Ústí nad Labem Region
Opava	56 638	91	Moravian-Silesian Region
Frýdek-Místek	55 931	52	Moravian-Silesian Region
Karviná	52 824	57	Moravian-Silesian Region
Jihlava	50 845	79	Vysočina Region
Teplice	49 575	24	Ústí nad Labem Region
Děčín	48 809	118	Ústí nad Labem Region

Other demographics statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[8]

At the turn of the century, the Czech Republic had one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. While the fertility rate has moved towards European average, it is still well below replacement value and the growth is primarily driven by immigration. The country is currently growing at a very small 0.1% a year.[8]

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

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[9]

Population

10,686,269 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

Further information: Youth in the Czech Republic

Population pyramid of Czechia in 1980

Population pyramid of Czechia in 2017

2018
0–14 years: 15.21% (male 834,800 /female 790,128)
15-24 years: 9.34% (male 514,728 /female 483,546)
25-54 years: 43.79% (male 2,404,724 /female 2,275,309)
55-64 years: 12.24% (male 638,130 /female 669,959)
65 years and over: 19.42% (male 865,455 /female 1,209,490)

2017
0–14 years: 15.2% (male 821,275 ; female 778,267 )
15–64 years: 65.7% (male ; female )
65 years and over: 19.1% (male 845,112 ; female 1,174,704 )

2010
0–14 years: 14.2% (male ; female )
15–64 years: 70.6% (male ; female )
65 years and over: 15.2% (male ; female )

2007
0–14 years: 14.2% (male 758,305; female 718,619)
15–64 years: 71.2% (male 3,726,148; female 3,665,225)
65 years and over: 14.6% (male 598,481; female 914,353)

2006
0–14 years: 14.4% (male 760,065; female 719,449)
15–64 years: 71.2% (male 3,683,215; female 3,642,023)
65 years and over: 14.4% (male 582,904; female 899,533)

2005
0–14 years: 14.7% (male 773,028; female 731,833)
15–64 years: 71.1% (male 3,651,018; female 3,627,006)
65 years and over: 14.2% (male 565,374; female 892,879)

2004
0–14 years: 14.9% (male 784,186; female 742,760)
15–64 years: 71.0% (male 3,638,782; female 3,620,219)
65 years and over: 14.0% (male 557,945; female 876,685)

2003
0–14 years: 15.2% (male 797,847; female 756,628)
15–64 years: 70.8% (male 3,625,092; female 3,608,696)
65 years and over: 13.9% (male 551,801; female 871,391)

Median age

• total: 42.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 29th
• male: 41.2 years
• female: 43.8 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

9.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 203rd

Death rate

10.5 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 27th

Total fertility rate

1.46 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 203rd

Net migration rate

2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 45th

Mother's mean age at first birth

28.1 years (2014 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 73.8% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 0.21% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Czech Republic total fertility rate by region (2014)[10]

1.9 - 2.1   1.7 - 1.9   1.5 - 1.7   1.4 - 1.5   1.3 - 1.4   < 1.3

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 78.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 57th

male: 76 years

female: 82.1 years (2018 est.)

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.[11]

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

Literacy

definition: NA (2011 est.)

total population: 99%

male: 99%

female: 99% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 17 years

male: 16 years

female: 18 years (2016)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 7.9%. Country comparison to the world: 143rd

male: 7.4%

female: 8.7% (2017 est.)

Ethnic groups

The majority of the 10.7 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, Gypsies, Poles, and Hungarians. Historical minorities like Germans and Poles are declining due to assimilation. While there is also a growing community from Vietnam community. Other ethnic communities like Greeks, Turks, Italians, and Yugoslavs are found in Praha. 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 so-called "old minorities" live mostly in specific areas (e.g. Poles in the Zaolzie region, Germans in the Hultschiner 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 (Poles, Slovaks, Greeks), other represent only some of the social groups (i.e. Russian newcomers of middle class, and Ukrainians and Gypsies who generally represent the underclass).[12]

1880-1910

Population of Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia by language[13]

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[14]
	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
Moravians													1,362,313	13.2	380,474	3.7	522,474	4.9
Silesians													44,446	0.4	10,878	0.1	12,231	0.1
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
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
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
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
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
Vietnamese													421	0.0	17,462	0.2	29,825	0.3
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
Gypsies[15]			227	0.0	19,770	0.2	19,392	0.2					32,903	0.3	11,746	0.1	5,199	0.0
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		10,562,214
^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. 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 2013 there are 14 such officially recognized minorities, which are (alphabetically): Belarusians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Gypsies, Russians, Rusyns, Serbians, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Vietnamese.[16]

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 Praha, 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.[17]

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[18] 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.[19] 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.[19]

Many 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.[20]

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.[21] They were partly leftists, communists and guerillas with their relatives, hence the willingness of Czechoslovak government to allow the immigration.[22] 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.[22] Today, there are about 7000 Greeks in the country (3219 according to 2001 census data),[22] 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).[23]

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.[24] Still, only a couple of villages with large Polish minorities have bilingual signs (Vendryně/Wędrynia for instance).

Romanis

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.[25] 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, according to Říčan (1998), Roma compose the majority of prison and habitual offender populations despite accounting for only a fraction of a percent of Czech population.

Immigration

Foreign population in Czechia in 2018.

According to the Czech Statistical Office as of December 31, 2018 there were 564,345 legal foreign residents in the Czech Republic (5.1% of the total population).[26] Residents from Ukraine are the largest group (131,302), followed by residents of Slovakia (116,817). There are also Asian immigrant communities in the Czech Republic. The largest is the Vietnamese one (61,097) followed by the Mongolians (9,075) and the Chinese (7,485). 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 (38,033), Poland (21,279), Germany (21,267), Bulgaria (15,593) and Romania (14,684).

Recent trends

Countries with at least 1,000 persons, immigrating each year.[27][28]

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
India	751	1,001	1,158
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[29]

Nationality	Population (2019)
Ukraine	145,153
Slovak Republic	121,278
Vietnam	61,910
Russian Federation	38,010
Poland	21,767
Germany	21,478
Bulgaria	17,183
Romania	16,824
Mongolia	9,844
United Kingdom	8,332
Hungary	7,675
China	7,673
United States	7,245
Belarus	6,920
Kazakhstan	5,940
Moldova	5,880
Italy	5,682
Serbia	5,593
India	4,923
France	4,409

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
• 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[30]

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 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[31][32][33][34]

	1991		2001		2011
	number	%	number	%	number	%
Roman Catholic Church	4,021,385	39.0	2,740,780	26.8	1,083,899	10.3
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren	203,996	2.0	117,212	1.1	51,916	0.5
Czechoslovak Hussite Church	178,036	1.7	99,103	1.0	39,276	0.4
Believers identified with another specific religion	120,317	1.7	330,993	3.2	292,347	2.7
Believers not identified with any specific religion					707,649	6.7
No religion	4,112,864	39.9	6,039,991	59.0	3,612,804	34.2
No response, unknown	1,665,617	16.2	901,981	8.8	4,774,323	45.2
Total population	10,302,215		10,230,060		10,562,214

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 most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,[35] 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%.[36]

See also

• Husák's Children

References

1. "Population - CZSO". Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
2. "EUROPE :: CZECHIA". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
3. "Zaostřeno na ženy a muže - 2019". CZSO.cz. Czech Statistical Office.
4. "Czech Demographic Handbook 2007". Czech Statistical Office.
5. Max Roser (2014), "Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries", Our World In Data, Gapminder Foundation
6. "Czech Statistical Office - Population". Czech Statistical Office.
7. "Obsah nenalezen | ČSÚ". www.czso.cz.
8. "Czech Republic Population 2019", World Population Review
9. "The World FactBook - Czechia", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018
10. "Total fertility rate by NUTS 3 region". Eurostat.
11. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
12. "Postavení národnostních menšin" (in Czech). Retrieved 2010-12-01.
13. Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
14. "Tab. 614a Obyvatelstvo podle věku, národnosti a pohlaví" (in Czech). Statistics of Czechia. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
15. In census people can leave the "nationality" field empty and they can also write down any nationality or ethnicity they want. Most Gypsies fill in the Czech nationality. Thus, the real number of Gypsies in the country is estimated to be around 220,000. Petr Lhotka: Romové v České republice po roce 1989 Archived 2007-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
16. See Government Council for National Minorities, Belorussian and Vietnamese since 4 July 2013, see Česko má nové oficiální národnostní menšiny. Vietnamce a Bělorusy
17. "Bulharská národnostní menšina" (in Czech). Vlada.cz. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
18. Statistický lexikon obcí v Republice československé I. Země česká. Prague. 1934.
    Statistický lexikon obcí v Republice československé II. Země moravskoslezská. Prague. 1935.
19. Peter Josika: Mehrsprachig: Ein Faktor der Versöhnung at Prager Zeitung, 21 August 2007.
20. Wolff, Stefan (2000). German minorities in Europe: ethnic identity and cultural belonging. Berghahn Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-57181-504-0.
21. "Greeks in Czech Country". Dialogos-kpr.cz. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
22. Archived February 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
23. Vangelis Liolios. "Podkladové materiály pro Radu vlády pro národnostní menšiny o situaci řecké menšiny v České republice" (PDF) (in Czech). Dialogs-kpr.cz. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
24. "Aktualności". www.polonica.cz. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
25. "European Commission - Languages eac". Ec.europa.eu. 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
26. "R01Foreigners in the CR in the years 2004–2018 (as at 31 December)" (in Czech).
27. "Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic - 2018" CZSO
28. "Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic - 2019" CZSO
29. https://www.czso.cz/documents/11292/27320905/c01R04_2019.xlsx/3bc309de-78d4-4ac9-8081-6f6866f86788?version=1.0
30. "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
31. "Population by denomination and sex: as measured by 1921, 1930, 1950, 1991 and 2001 censuses" (PDF) (in Czech and English). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
32. "Scitani lidu, domu a bytu 2001". Czso.cz. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
33. "Tab 7.1 Population by religious belief and by municipality size groups" (PDF) (in Czech). Czso.cz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
34. "Tab 7.2 Population by religious belief and by regions" (PDF) (in Czech). Czso.cz. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
35. "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
36. "Social values, Science and Technology" (PDF). Eurobarometer. June 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-12-19.

External links

• Czech Statistical Office, state institution responsible to provide official data about Czech Republic
• Official European Union entry