13 January 2021

According to the Population Census results, the population of Czechia was 10 524 167 as at 27 March 2021. The average age of the population was 42.7 years and there were 50.7% of females and 49.3% of males among those who participated in the Census. Compared to the previous Census, the number of persons with higher levels of education increased. Compared to 2011, the number of houses (buildings) increased by almost 195 thousand.

The 2021 Census started by the so-called decisive moment at midnight from 26 to 27 March and finished on Tuesday 11 May 2021. It was the first online population census in the history of the Czech Republic. The population of the Czech Republic was 10 524 167, which was by 87.6 thousand more compared to the previous Census in 2011. “It is very satisfying that 85% of the population got counted (enumerated) electronically and paper census forms (questionnaires) thus became rather a complementary form. It was better than we had originally expected. The Czech Statistical Office also used data from registers of the state administration as much as possible in order to burden respondents as little as possible,” Marek Rojíček, President of the Czech Statistical Office, says. The Census was carried out under unfavourable conditions of the covid-19 disease pandemic.

Almost half of the population (48.2%) lived in four Regions – the Hlavní město Praha Region (the Capital City of Prague), the Středočeský Region, the Jihomoravský Region, and the Moravskoslezský Region. The Capital City of Prague differs from other Regions by its lowest average age of 41.4 years, the lowest share of the population with Czech citizenship (86.1%), and the highest share of the population aged 15+ years with higher education (33.7%). In the Karlovarský Region and in the Ústecký Region, there was the lowest share of the population with higher education and of believers identified with a church or religious society and the highest share of the divorced and of those without religious belief. The oldest population with the average age of 43.8 years lived in the Zlínský Region. In Moravian Regions, there was apparently a higher share of the population with Moravian nationality.

The average age of the population reached 42.7 years, while it was somewhat higher among females (44.1 years) than among males (41.2 years). Since the previous Census in 2011, both males and females got by 1.7 year older on average. Among those who participated in the Census, children aged 0–14 years amounted to 16.1%, persons in the productive age 63.5%, and elderly citizens of 65+ years made 20.4%. The percentage of children up to 15 years of age was the highest in the Středočeský Region (17.9%) and it was the lowest (15.3%) in the Hl. m. Praha Region (the Capital City of Prague) and in the Karlovarský Region. As for the productive age (15–64 years), the highest share of that population was in the Capital City of Prague (66.3%) and the lowest one was in the Královéhradecký Region (61.9%).

From the population aged 15+ years who got counted, 32.1% were single and 45.6% were married. Among the widowed ones, females (13.3%) significantly prevail over males (2.9%).

According to the 2021 Census, 4.7% of the population were foreigners. Among them, the highest share in the population belonged to persons with the citizenship of the Ukraine (1.4%), Slovakia (0.9%), and Viet Nam (0.5%). The population with foreign citizenship from Member States of the EU made 1.5% of the population and third-country nationals amounted to 3.2% of the population.

“It is apparent from the Census results that the percentage of the population with higher levels of education continues to increase in the Czech Republic. The number of persons with higher education exceeded 1.5 million and, compared to the previous census, the number of persons with full secondary education with A-level examination increased, too,” Robert Šanda, the 2021 Census project responsible person, notes. From the aged 15+ years, already 53.1% has at least secondary education with A-level examination or higher. People with secondary education or with secondary vocational education without A-level examination made approximately a third of the population as well as those with secondary education with A-level examination. The share of the population with higher education was 18.7% (in 2011 it was 13.2%).

A voluntary question about nationality was answered by 68.4% of the population. Czech nationality was declared by 83.8% of those who filled in their answer regarding nationality (to be precise, it was 6 033 621 persons), Moravian nationality was declared by 5.0% (359 621 persons), and Silesian nationality by 0.2%. As for other nationalities, the following were declared most frequently: Slovak nationality (1.3%), Ukrainian nationality (1.1%), and Vietnamese nationality (0.4%). Compared to the 2011 Census, the number of inhabitants declaring they have two nationalities increased. The most frequent combinations were as follows: Czech – Moravian (179 721 persons), Czech – Slovak (59 336 persons), Czech – European (18 057 persons), Czech – Romany (15 841 persons), and Czech – German (13 637 persons).

Religious belief, which also belonged to voluntary questions, was filled in by 69.9% of the population. In their answer, 18.7% of people declared they are believers identified with a church or religious society. As for churches and religious societies, the highest number of people belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, which represented a tenth of all the answers (741,0 thousand persons). The answer “without religious belief” made over two thirds (68.3%) of the answers.    

“The housing stock in Czechia increased to 2 353 024 houses and, compared to the year 2011, it increased by almost 195 thousand houses (buildings). During the last 30 years, their number in Czechia increased even by over 484 thousand, which represents a fifth of the total housing stock,” Robert Šanda says. Most often, a house owner was a natural person; natural persons owned 88.4% of all houses. The second most often type of ownership was “co-ownership of dwelling unit (flat) owners” which was recorded for 146 799 houses (buildings). For the first time in the history of censuses, the ownership structure of houses was not surveyed directly from respondents; it was derived from data kept in the real estate cadastre. Approximately one in four houses in Czechia was built in the period before 1946.  

During the months to come, the Czech Statistical Office will add data of a greater territorial detail to the data released today. In the second and third quarter of 2022, information about dwellings (flats) and further characteristics of the population will be added. In the fourth quarter, data on households and commutation will be released. All updates including tables and cartograms are available on the website at https://www.scitani.cz/.

Contact:
Jolana Voldánová
2021 Census spokeswoman
Mobile phone number: +420 704 659 357
e-mail: jolana.voldanova@scitani.cz