Population increased in 2017 despite falling birth rate

The Republic of Cyprus saw a population increase of 1.2 per cent in 2017, despite an increasing death rate and decreasing fertility rate, the statistical service Cystat said on Wednesday.

In 2017, the total population in the Republic reached 864,200, marking a 1.2 per cent increase from 2016, with 67.5 per cent (577,574) residing in urban areas.

At the same time, the fertility rate for 2017 was recorded at 1.32 children per woman, marking a decrease from the rate of 1.37 that was recorded in the year before.

The Cystat figure differed from research published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet earlier in the month, according to which Cyprus’ total fertility rate in 2017 was 1.0 per woman, constituting the lowest fertility rate in the world.

Either way Cyprus is well below the population replacement rate of 2.1 live births per woman and has been since 1995.

As such, the increasing population can be assumed to be a result of the positive net migration, a higher number of incoming migrants compared to outgoing migrants, which was recorded at 6,201 in 2017. These numbers refer to those with a legal right to stay in Cyprus.

Decreasing fertility rates, which brought about a fall in birth rates from 9,455 in 2016 to 9,229 in 2017, were accompanied by an increasing death rate which rose to 5,996 in 2017 compared to the 5,471 deaths recorded in 2016.

By district, 335,900 people live in Nicosia, 242,000 in Limassol, 146,500 in Larnaca, 92,300 in Paphos and 47,500 in Famagusta.

Population statistics according to age show that 16.2 per cent of the population is within the 0-14 age group, 67.9 per cent are between the ages of 15-64, and 15.9 per cent are 65 years old and older.

The number of men increased in 2017, reaching a total of 421,500 as compared to the total of 416,700 men in 2016. The total number of women also increased to 442,700 in 2017 compared to the 438,100 in 2016.

Total households reached 324,000, with the average number of people per household recorded at 2.7.

Marriages and divorces marked a decrease in 2017, as marriages fell to 5,882 from the total of 6,375 which were recorded in 2016, while divorces fell slightly to 1,932 from the total of 1,948 in 2016.

 

 

 

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