In 1997, the population of Hungary was 10.1 million; around 5 million Hungarians also live in neighbouring countries or overseas. Budapest, the capital, has 1.9 million inhabitants. The population is decreasing, and figures for the year 2000 give the population as 9.9 million. Children under 15 years comprise 18% of the population; people aged 65 and over comprise 14%.¹³³ By 2050 the population is estimated to fall to around 7.6 million people.¹³⁴

Hungarians trace their descent from Finno-Ugric groups from Central Asia. The largest ethnic minority group is the Roma, or Gypsy community. In 1996, the number of gypsies was estimated to be over 450,000. Other national minorities (Croatians, Germans, Serbians, Slovaks, Slovenians and Romanians) number 100,000 in total.¹³⁵

Hungary’s current population of around 10.08 million is made up of the following ethnic groups: Hungarian 92.3%, Roma 1.9%, other or unknown 5.8% (2001 census). Religious groups include: Roman Catholic 51.9%, Calvinist 15.9%, Lutheran 3%, Greek Catholic 2.6%, other Christian 1%, other or unspecified 11.1%, unaffiliated 14.5% (2001 census).¹³⁶