Demographic situation

Czechia has an area of 78 866 sq. km and a population of 10 859 535 (as of 31 March 2024), the most since World War II. Since 2019, the population growth is only caused by movement from abroad. The country is characterized by a high number of usually small municipalities and a relatively even density of population. The capital city of Prague has 1 million 379.8 thousand inhabitants (as of 31 March 2024) and there are 5 other cities with a population of over 100 thousand.

Demographic development

Demographic development in the post-war period was uneven. This was largely due to government measures aimed at increasing the birth rate, e.g. by giving preferential treatment in the allocation of flats to families with children, extending the length of the maternity leave period, by offering favourable loans to newly married couples.

After 1989, the demographic processes were brought into line with the West European pattern: life expectancy has increased, the birth rate has fallen, and the ages at marriage and the age of women at the birth of their first child have risen. In 1996 the total fertility rate (average number of children per woman) fell below 1.2, from a level of 1.89 in 1990. It was not until 2004 that fertility exceeded 1.2 children per woman and the number of children born rose to over 100 thousand. This increase in fertility and natality was primarily due to the fact that large cohorts of women born in the 1970s reached reproductive age. In recent years, however, the total fertility rate has been significantly decreasing and by 2023 this figure fell to 1.45 children per woman. In the same year, 91.1 thousand children were born in Czechia; 10.2 thousand fewer than the preceding year. The average age of mothers at the birth of their first child has been steadily increasing since the 1990s, reaching 28.9 years in 2023. The proportion of births outside marriage has also increased significantly since the 1990s (47 % in 2023 compared to around 10% of children in the early 1990s). The life expectancy at birth has a long-term increasing trend, however, in 2020, for the first time in post-war history, it fell compared to the previous year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, life expectancy was 76.9 years for men and 82.8 years for women. 
 

Impact on education

Irregularity of demographic development results in fluctuations in numbers of pupils/students at different educational levels which may cause capacity problems in schools. 

The capacity of schools at the pre-primary level are influenced by legislative changes in recent years, when the  last year of pre-primary education became compulsory in the school year 2017/18 and three-year-old children are legally entitled to a place in nursery school since 2018. In addition, the needs for capacity of nursery schools are significantly impacted by the migration and education of Ukrainian children caused by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In the school year 2022/23, the ratio of children-foreigners among children in nursery schools increased from 3 % to 5 % compared to the previous year; and the proportion differs across regions (the highest proportion is reported by nursery schools in Prague (14 %), in Karlovy Vary region (7 %), and in Plzen region (7 %)). The ratio of Ukrainian children among all children-foreigners in nursery schools rose from 25 % to 55 %, while the ratio of children of Vietnamese nationality fell from 23 % to 13 %, Slovakian from 18 % to 11 %, and Russian from 6 % to 4 %. The proportion of Ukrainian children differs by region. The highest number of these children are educated in nursery schools in Prague, Ústí nad Labem Region, Karlovy Vary region, and Plzeň region.

The insufficient capacities of nursery schools are apparent especially in large cities and nearby regions. Although the capacity of nursery schools is continuously expanding, there is still a high number of rejected applications for admission to preschool education, i.e. children who have not been admitted. In 2023, the proportion of unmet applications was 27 % of the total (however, the number of unmet applications does not necessarily mean that the children are not placed in nursery schools because parents or legal representatives submit more than one application, which skews the data). The capacity of nursery schools is also highly regionally differentiated. According to the Czech School Inspectorate, the lack of places is most noticeable in Prague, Brno, and the Central Bohemian Region (Středočeský kraj); in some regions, however, places are abundant. According to the law, the responsibility for the lack of places lies primarily with the organizing bodies of nursery schools, which are most often municipalities and towns or city districts.

The number of children in basic schools (základní školy) has been growing since 2010, and at present and in the coming years, the segment of the second stage of basic schools will strengthen, to which numerous cohorts of pupils from the first stage have moved. 

As a result of the continuing military aggression of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, schools are faced with the need to ensure basic education to an increased number of pupils in school age (6-14 years), especially in Prague and other large cities and their hinterland, which have dealt with the issue of insufficient capacity of basic schools in the long term. Pupils-foreigners have become the fastest-growing group of pupils in basic schools; i. e. pupils whose first language is different from the official language or the language of instruction of the destination country (‘pupils with a different first language’). In Czechia, this group of pupils is formed mostly by Slovaks, Vietnamese, Russians, and Ukrainians. In the school year 2021/2022, pupils with a different first language in basic schools formed 3 %, in 2022/2023 it was 7 %. The increase reflects primarily the growth of the proportion of Ukrainian pupils in the total number of pupils with a different first language. In April 2024, there were more than 37 thousand Ukrainian pupils registered at Czech basic schools, which is an increase of approximately 10 thousand compared to the previous year. Geographically, the highest numbers are at schools in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region.

The steady growth of the number of pupils in upper secondary education in the last five years is due to demographic trends and currently also migration within Europe. Since 2018/2019, when the demographic decline in this group of pupils stopped, there was an increase of over 42 thousand pupils in upper secondary schools. The proportion of pupils-foreigners is still growing. Until 2021/2022 the number of pupils had been growing by tens or lower units of hundreds; in 2022/2023 the number grew by four thousand pupils in consequence of Ukrainian citizens coming to Czechia due to the armed conflict in Ukraine caused by Russian aggression. In recent years, Czechia has been facing capacity problems in upper secondary school enrolment due to a strong 15-year-old population corresponding to the last year of basic school, which is likely to continue for several more years. Capacity shortages are particularly pronounced in the case of upper secondary general schools (gymnázia) and are also significantly regionally determined, with over-enrolment being highest in Prague, Central Bohemia, and South Moravia. 

Around 75 % of pupils are studying in fields of education with Maturita examination. The largest segment of upper secondary education steadily consists of pupils in vocational upper secondary education with the Maturita examination (approximately 44 %) and pupils of secondary general schools (gymnázia, including multi-year secondary general schools (víceletá gymnázia)) account for about 30 % of the total number of pupils in upper secondary education. Around 3 % pupils study in follow-up courses with the Maturita examination. Around one-fifth of pupils study in programmes without the Maturita examination.

The total number of students and new entrants in tertiary education visibly decreased between 2010 and 2019, also due to the demographic situation, but has continually increased since 2019. In 2023, there were 308,6 thousand students at Czech universities, which is an increase of 20 thousand compared to 2019.

Ensuring a sufficient number of primary and secondary school teachers is a long-term problem related to the aging of the population, as numerous groups of teachers move to higher age categories. In the near future, it is necessary to take into account the need to replace teachers leaving school after reaching retirement age. See Planning Policy in Chapter 9 for more details.

In the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine, which escalated with the Russian attack on 24 February 2022, Czechia has become a destination for Ukrainian refugees, a large number of whom are children, pupils, and students. According to data collected during a special inquiry of the Ministry of Education, there were 7 005 children-refugees from Ukraine in Czech nursery schools on 31 March 2024, 37 099 Ukrainian pupils-refugees in basic schools, 5 346 such pupils in upper secondary schools and 89 in conservatoires. Their overall number grew by 1 449 to a total of 49 539 compared to the beginning of the school year 2023/2024 (i. e. 1 September 2023). The biggest growth in this period can be observed at nursery schools (by 23 %) and upper secondary schools (by 10 %). From a geographical perspective, the highest numbers of Ukrainian pupils-refugees are at schools in Prague (20,6 %) and Central Bohemian Region (14,1 %), the lowest number is in Zlín Region (3,6 %) and Olomouc Region (3,7 %). The majority (over 94 %) of these children and pupils attend public schools established by municipalities and regions.
 

Demographic population aging

Czechia, like most other European countries, is facing demographic population aging. In 2023, the so-called pre-productive population part (0–14 years) represented 15.9 %, people in the productive age (15–64 years) represented 63.6 %, and people over 65 years old formed 20.5 % of the total population. According to the development forecast, the population will be aging mainly due to higher age groups, i.e. the number of elderly people will increase while the proportion of people in the productive age of the population will decrease.

The biggest decrease of the number of people between the ages 15 and 64 should occur at the turn of the 30s and 40s of this century, according to the prediction of the Czech Statistical Office. At the end of 2050, there should be 6 million people in this group, i. e. 56 % of the Czech population (compared to approximately 64 % in 2023); the end of this decrease is expected towards the end of the 50s. 

Around 2060, the proportion of people in the ‘post-productive’ age is going to peak, reaching 30.5 %. In 2053, there should be one person in the post-productive age for 1.4 people in the productive age. The ratio should not decrease in the subsequent years covered by the prediction.

Foreigners

Numbers of foreigners legally staying in Czechia had been growing until 2022, when they reached the historical maximum of 1 113.7 thousand. In the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine and the granting of temporary protection to Ukrainian refugees, the number of foreigners has increased significantly in the last two years, when the total number grew by more than 407 thousand between the years 2021 and 2023. For more detail on migration of children, pupils, and students from Ukraine, see Impact on Education.

According to the data of the Czech Statistical Office (CSO), as of 31 December 2023, there were 1 065 740 registered foreigners in Czechia including those with temporary protection, more than half of whom were Ukrainians (573 976 at the same date). Citizens of third countries predominate among foreigners (of whom Ukrainians are most predominant), Slovaks form the most predominant group of the EU countries (119 thousand as of 31 December 2023). In 2023, 7 573 children with foreign citizenship were born on the Czech territory, which was the highest number to date.

According to the Census 2021, 4.7 % of the population were foreigners. Among them, the highest share of people in the population were citizens of Ukraine (1.4 %), Slovakia (0.9 %) and Vietnam (0.5 %). Residents with foreign citizenship from EU countries made up 1.5 % of the population and outside the EU 3.2 % of the population. (Data include only persons with one nationality.)

Source: Annual Report of the Czech School Inspectorate, Forecast for the Population Development in Czechia for the Period 2008–2070, Websites of the Czech Statistical Office, Websites of the Eurostat

Distribution of the population by age

Note: As of 31 December of the given year.

Source: Czech Statistical Office

Czech Republic Population Pyramid 2021

Source: Czech Statistical Office

Vital and employment statistics

1) Population aged 15 +; Source: Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS), in Czech.

2) Per 1000 inhabitants.

3) Values affected by migration due to the armed conflict in Ukraine

Source: Czech Statistical Office

Official and minority languages

The official language is Czech, which belongs to the Western Slavic family of languages. Regional dialects do not possess the status of a language and do not pose a problem in the education of children, pupils, and students.

According to the Act on Rights of Racial Minorities Members and Amending Some Acts, people have the freedom to declare their membership of a national minority and their enjoyment of the related rights. Traditional national minorities include Slovaks, Poles, and Germans. Moravians and Silesians speak Czech.

In the Census 2021, 83.8 % of those who filled in the question on nationality declared themselves to be Czech, 5.0 % to Moravian nationality and 0.2 % to Silesian nationality. Of the other nationalities, Slovak (1.3 %), Ukrainian (1.1 %), and Vietnamese (0.4 %) were the most frequently declared nationalities. Of the total number 10.5 million citizens of Czechia, more than 3.3 million opted for the option to leave the option question unanswered (i.e. 31.6 % of people, while in the 2011 census, it was 25.3 %; data include only people with one declared nationality). Almost 6.8 million people (64.6 %) stated one nationality and 420 thousand people (0.04 %) stated two nationalities.

Information about the education of minorities is available in Support measures for learners in early childhood and school education in Chapter 12.

Religions

The State is denominationally neutral, which means that there is no official religion. Freedom of religion is granted by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and everybody has the right to express their own religion or belief.

The traditionally low number of people practicing religion has decreased further, following a short period of growth after 1989. In the Census 2021, in response to religious belief, 18.7 % of those who completed the question declared that they believed in God and belonged to a church or religious society. The answer “without religious faith” accounted for more than two-thirds (68.3 %) of the answers. Less than a tenth of the population (9 %) said they believed in God but did not belong to any church or religious society. Filling in the question on religious faith was voluntary, 30.1 % of people left it blank (at the 2011 census it was 44.7 %).

Due to historical developments (the reformation movement at the beginning of the 15th century and the strong counter-reformation associated with the arrival of the Habsburg dynasty which resulted in re-catholicisation after 1627), the Roman Catholic Church (54 % of all believers according to the Census 2021) is the biggest church. The Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church are the other two most important churches. As of January 2024, there were 44 churches and religious societies registered in the Register of Churches and Religious Communities (according to the Act on Churches and Religious Communities, the condition for registration is a minimum of 300 adult followers).

Schools only opened up to religious influences after 1989, both in the curriculum (re-introduction of the possibility to teach religion as a subject, and the introduction of information on churches into history and civic education), and in organisation (the establishment of denominational schools, abolishing quantitative restrictions on theological studies). Religious education at public schools is governed by the Education Act.