People and Society of Hungary

Nationality

Hungarian(s)

Ethnic Groups

Hungarian 89.9%, Roma 4%, German 2.6%, Serb 2%, Slovak 0.8%, Romanian 0.7%

Population

9,589,870

Population in Major Urban Areas

BUDAPEST (capital) 1.737 million

Medical treatment in Hungary is adequate, but hospitals and other medical facilities are not always comparable to what you may find in the United States. Doctors are generally well trained, but there is a lack of adequate emergency services. Some doctors speak English. The Embassy maintains a website with more information about medical care providers, including English-speaking physicians.

Life Expectancy at Birth

Life expectancy at birth in Hungary stands at approximately 76 years overall, with notable differences between men and women. Hungarian women can expect to live to around 79–80 years, while men have a considerably shorter average lifespan of approximately 73–74 years. This gender gap of roughly six to seven years is one of the more pronounced disparities in the European Union and reflects longstanding differences in lifestyle factors, healthcare engagement, and occupational risks between Hungarian men and women. Hungary's overall life expectancy falls somewhat below the EU average, which hovers closer to 81 years. This gap has been a persistent challenge for the country, rooted in several interconnected public health concerns. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among Hungarians, accounting for a substantial proportion of mortality. High rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and relatively low rates of physical activity contribute significantly to this burden. Diet also plays a role, as traditional Hungarian cuisine tends to be rich in animal fats and salt, factors associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Additionally, Hungary has historically had elevated rates of certain cancers, including colorectal and lung cancer, both of which are closely linked to lifestyle choices. Hungary experienced a notable decline in life expectancy in the early 2020s, largely attributable to excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the country particularly hard relative to many of its EU peers. Prior to the pandemic, incremental gains had been made over the preceding decades, following a difficult post-communist transition period in the 1990s when economic hardship and social stress temporarily worsened health outcomes. Recovery from the pandemic-related setback has been gradual, and pre-pandemic trajectory levels are only slowly being restored. The Hungarian government has implemented various national health programs targeting cardiovascular disease prevention, smoking cessation, and cancer screening, aiming to narrow the gap with wealthier EU neighbors such as Sweden, Spain, and Italy, where life expectancy can reach 83 years or beyond. Continued investment in preventive care, modernizing healthcare infrastructure, and addressing socioeconomic inequalities in health access remain central goals for improving population health outcomes in the coming decades.

Infant Mortality Rate

Hungary maintains a relatively low infant mortality rate compared to global averages, reflecting the country's well-developed healthcare infrastructure and strong public health system. As of the most recent available data, Hungary's infant mortality rate stands at approximately 3 to 4 deaths per 1,000 live births, placing it within the range of other developed European nations, though slightly above the European Union average of around 3 deaths per 1,000 live births. This figure represents a dramatic improvement over historical levels. In the early 1990s, following the political and economic transition away from communism, Hungary's infant mortality rate was considerably higher, hovering near 15 deaths per 1,000 live births. Decades of investment in prenatal care, neonatal medicine, and public health initiatives have driven consistent reductions in this statistic. Several factors contribute to Hungary's current infant mortality performance. The country operates a universal healthcare system that provides prenatal and postnatal care to all citizens and residents, ensuring broad access to medical services regardless of income. Hospital delivery rates are very high, with nearly all births in Hungary taking place in medical facilities attended by trained professionals. Neonatal intensive care units are available in major hospitals throughout the country, supporting the survival of premature and low-birth-weight infants. Disparities do exist within the country, however. Rural communities and regions with higher concentrations of Roma populations face higher rates of infant mortality and poorer access to consistent prenatal care. These gaps have prompted targeted public health interventions and outreach programs, though progress in reducing these regional inequalities has been uneven. Globally, Hungary's infant mortality rate is considered low and is broadly consistent with its status as a high-income country and a member of the European Union. For comparison, the global average infant mortality rate remains significantly higher, at approximately 27 to 28 deaths per 1,000 live births, underscoring how far Hungary has come in building a healthcare system that protects its youngest and most vulnerable population.

Major Infectious Diseases

Intermediate

Literacy Definition

age 15 and over can read and write

Learning

A typical school day for children would have class periods are 45 minute long, 4-6 class periods each day with 10-15 minutes breaks. After that lunch in the school. In the afternoon learning in the school (preparing for next day), taking alternative lessons or sport activities, or just going directly to home. The number of students per teacher are 25-30. Most children taking English lessons in the school 4-5 times a week. The main subjects taught include math, Hungarian language and literature, reading, writing (in the first 4 grades at least one foreign language), physical education, music and singing, in the upper 4 grades students also take physics, history, chemistry, biology, and information technology. A pre-school (óvodák) is for three to six-year-olds. The aim of pre-school is to prepare children for social life and schooling and to develop personal skills and abilities. Attendance at a óvodák is voluntary, but five-year-olds must compulsorily attend the last stage, which prepares them for school. For children under the age of 3, day nurseries (bölcsdék) are available. The activities taking place in pre-schools last a maximum of four hours a day. Learning through experience is an important motto in Hungarian pre-school. Kindergarten teachers with secondary or higher educational qualifications teach the children, but only college graduate specialists are allowed to handle the management of pre-schools. The primary education in Hungary (általános iskola) is compulsory by law for all children between 6 and 16 years of age. Students performance and progress are regularly assessed with grades of : excellent (5), good (4), satisfactory (3), acceptable (2) and fail (1). These marks determine whether or not the pupil moves up to the next class. About 80% of primary school students successfully complete their basic 8-year primary education, without having to repeat any classes. After the basic 8-year primary education students, can elect to attend vocational schools instead of secondary school (gimnázium). This education usually takes three years, and offers training in roughly 200 professions and trades. It gives a skilled worker's certificate, which is valid all over the country, but does not grant a certificate of enrollment. However, the 4-5 year secondary vocational school does grant a certificate of enrollment and a skilled worker's certificate or technician's certificate. These special vocational schools were established in 1990. Students who have chosen this line of education are given complementary education and professional preliminary training. The secondary school (gimnázium) is a 4-to-5-year educational institution providing general academic education. It provides general education and also provides qualifications for certain jobs. The secondary school has traditionally been the main gateway to universities. About 80% of those completing the primary education go on to some form of secondary education. In most general secondary schools there are entrance examinations. Education in these schools is free of charge. Private general secondary schools, which are mostly maintained by churches, may charge fees if they do not have an agreement giving them a public education grant from the local government. The school week consists of five days with classes in the morning. Studies in secondary schools are completed with an upper secondary school leaving examination. The upper secondary school leaving examination allows for, but does not guarantee admission to higher education, since colleges and universities have their own entrance examination requirements.

To School

Kids travel to school either by foot, or by public transportation. Most public schools do not provide transportation to or from school. Private schools might provide transportation, additionally a public school might provide transportation in some areas where distance are long, and the public transportation system is not well developed.

• Roman Catholic67.0%
• Calvinist20.0%
• Atheist and Other8.0%
• Lutheran5.0%

Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%

• Hungarian
• Magyar

• Erich Weiss (Harry Houdini)

  Entertainer

  Erich Weiss (Harry Houdini), world’s greatest escape artist, was born in Budapest, Hungary.

• Béla Bartók

  Composer

  Béla Bartók Nagyszentmiklós, Hungarian composer and pianist was born in Austria-Hungary. [now Sânnicolau Mare, Romania]

• Joseph Pulitzer

  Author

  Joseph Pulitzer, journalist, founder of the Pulitzer prizes, was born in Makó, Hungary.

• Franz Liszt

  Composer · 1811

  Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer, was born in Doborján, Austria-Hungary (now Raiding, Burgenland, Austria) on Oct. 22, 1811.

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  Nikola Tesla

  Inventor · 1856

  Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Austria-Hungary and emigrated to the U.S. in 1884 as a physicist. He pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which can be transmitted over much greater distances than direct current. Tesla patented a device to induce electrical current in a piece of iron (a rotor) spinning between two electrified coils of wire. This rotating magnetic field device generates AC current when it is made to rotate by using some form mechanical energy, like steam or hydropower. When the generated current reaches its user and is fed into another rotating magnetic field device, this second device becomes an AC induction motor that produces mechanical energy. Induction motors run household appliances like clothes washers and dryers. Development of these devices led to widespread industrial and manufacturing uses for electricity. The induction motor was only part of Tesla’s overall conception. In a series of history-making patents, he demonstrated a polyphase alternating-current system, consisting of a generator, transformers, transmission layout, and motor and lights. From the power source to the power user, it provided the basic elements for electrical production and utilization. Our AC power system remains essentially unchanged today. In 1888, George Westinghouse, head of the Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent rights to Tesla’s system of dynamos, transformers and motors. Westinghouse used Tesla’s alternating current system to light the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Then in 1896, Tesla’s system was used at Niagara Falls in the world’s first large hydroelectric plant. The Tesla coil, invented in 1891, is still used in radio and television sets, car starters, and a wide variety of electronic equipment. Tesla’s work with radio-frequency waves laid the foundation for today’s radio. He experimented with wireless transmission of electrical power, and received 112 patents for devices ranging from speedometers to extremely efficient electrical generators to a bladeless turbine still in use today. He suggested that it was possible to use radio waves to detect ships (later developed as RADAR), and his work with special gas-filled lamps set the stage for the creation of fluorescent lighting. Tesla was Thomas Edison’s rival at the end of the 19th century - in fact, he was more famous than Edison throughout the 1890’s. His invention of polyphase AC electric power earned him worldwide fame but not fortune. At his zenith his circle of friends included poets and scientists, industrialists and financiers. Yet Tesla died alone and almost penniless in a New York hotel room in 1943. During his life, Tesla created a legacy of genuine invention that still fascinates today. After his death, the world honored him by naming the unit of magnetic flux density the "tesla."

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  Michael Pupin

  Inventor · 1858

  Michael Pupin, American physicist and inventor, was born in Austria-Hungary in 1858. He immigrated to the United States in 1874, graduated from Columbia University in physics in 1883, and obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Berlin in 1889. Pupin taught at Columbia for more than 40 years, 30 of them as a professor of electromechanics. Pupin improved the quality of long-distance telephone and telegraph transmission by inserting coils in the long lines at intervals; he discovered that matter struck by X-rays is stimulated to radiate other X-rays (secondary radiation) and invented an electrical resonator. He received 34 patents for his inventions, and he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for his autobiography, From Immigrant to Inventor .

Crime Information

Crime in Budapest is a concern. Be careful during your visit, and exercise the same caution you would in any big city or tourist area at home. Do not walk alone at night; keep your belongings secure at all times. Passports, cash, and credit cards are favorite targets of thieves. Keep items that you do not store in your hotel safe or residence in a safe place, but be aware that pockets, purses, and backpacks are especially vulnerable, even if they close with a zipper. Be sure to secure these items when you get back to your hotel or residence. The U.S. Embassy’s Consular Section has a special web page with further details on common scams and crimes in Hungary. If you drive, be careful at gas stations and rest areas, or while fixing flat tires or other mechanical problems, especially at night. One scam involves someone who attracts your attention by claiming there is something wrong with your car to get you to pull over and then robs you. Do not leave your luggage and valuables unattended inside any vehicle for any length of time, even to load or unload items or to check in to a hotel. Another common scam involves young women asking foreign men to buy them drinks. When the bill arrives the drinks cost hundreds of dollars each. You should avoid bars and restaurants suggested by cab drivers or people on the street. Every bar and restaurant should provide a menu with prices on it. Look at the prices before you order anything, including drinks. The Embassy maintains a list of bars and restaurants that are known to engage in this scam. Don’t buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal to bring back into the United States, but you may also be breaking local law.

Criminal Penalties

While you are traveling in Hungary, you are subject to its laws even if you are a U.S. citizen. Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different than our own. Criminal penalties vary from country to country. There are also some things that might be legal in the country you visit, but still illegal in the United States; for instance, you can be prosecuted under U.S. law if you buy pirated goods. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime prosecutable in the United States. If you break local laws in Hungary, your U.S. passport won’t help you avoid arrest or prosecution. It’s very important to know what’s legal and what’s not, wherever you may be going. You should carry your passport with you at all times when you are in Hungary. Hungarian law requires all visitors to carry their passports; a photocopy is not a valid substitute. You could be arrested or fined if you do not have your passport with you. Since expert pickpockets frequent tourist areas and train stations, it is a good idea to keep your passport in a safe place. Hungary has a “zero tolerance” policy on drinking and driving. You should not drive after drinking, regardless of the amount of alcohol you have consumed. Arrest notifications in host country: While some countries will automatically notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate if a U.S. citizen is detained or arrested in a foreign country, that might not always be the case. To ensure that the United States is aware of your circumstances, request that the police and prison officials notify the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate as soon as you are arrested or detained overseas.