Cyprus population rises by 1.4% in 2019

The population of the Government controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus is estimated at 888.000 at the end of 2019, compared to 875.900 at the end of 2018, recording an increase of 1,4%, according the demographic statistics for 2019 issued by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

However, according to Cystat the Cypriot population is ageing with the number of children below 15 years old gradually declining while the number of people above 65 increase, whereas the total fertility rate since the 1982 peak remains below the 2.10 replacement level.
 
According to Cystat, the population of the government-controlled areas is estimated at 888,000 at the end of 2019, compared to 875,900 at the end of 2018, recording an annual increase of 1.4%.
 
The proportion of children below 15 years old was estimated at 16.0% while the proportion of persons aged 65 and over increased to 16.3% in 2019, compared to 22.3% and 11.3% respectively in 2000. 
 
“There was therefore a gradual increase in the proportion of old-aged persons and a decrease in the proportion of children, demonstrating the ageing process of the population,” Cystat said.
 
During 2019, the number of births in the Government controlled area increased to 9,548 from 9,329 the year before, giving a crude birth rate of 10.8 per 1,000 population.

Moreover, the total fertility rate for 2019 was estimated at 1.33, remaining at the same level as in the previous year.
 
However, the total fertility rate decreased gradually during the past years, from its local peak of 2,50 in 1982, while since 1995, the total fertility rate remains below the replacement level of 2.10, Cystat adds.
 
The mean age of women at the birth of their first child was 29.6 years while the mean age at birth irrespective of the order of child was 31.2 years in 2019.
With regard to mortality, Cystat noted that the number of deaths in 2019 reached 6,239, compared to 5,768 in 2018, with the crude death rate for 2019 increased to 7.1 deaths per 1.000 population from 6.6 in 2018.
 
According to Cystat, life expectancy at birth was estimated at 80.1 years for males and 84.2 years for females in 2019, compared to 80.7 years for males and 84.6 for females in 2018.
 
Infant mortality remains at very low level, estimated at 2.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019.
 
In 2019, Cyprus registered positive met migration with migration turning to positive in 2016, following the years during and following the financial crisis between 2012 – 2015 when net immigration was negative.
 
In 2019, it was estimated at 8,797, Cystat says, adding that long-term immigrants (Cypriots and foreigners arriving for settlement or for temporary employment for 1 year or more) were 26,170 in 2019, compared to 23,442 in 2018.
 
The number of emigrants (Cypriots and foreigners who had resided in Cyprus for at least one year) was estimated at 17,373 in 2019 compared to 15,340 in 2018.

Marriages and divorces

According to CyStat, the total number of marriages in 2019 increased to 14,854 from 13,783 the year before.
 
Ecclesiastical marriages increased from 3,918 in 2018 to 4,173 in 2019 and civil marriages increased from 9,865 in 2018 to 10,681 in 2019.
 
CyStat noted however than as in the past few years, a large number of foreigners who married in Cyprus by civil marriage were not residing in Cyprus, with out of the 10,681 civil marriages in 2019, only 3,673 were civil marriages of residents of Cyprus.
 
Thus, the total number of marriages of residents totaled 7,846. 
 
The total number of divorces in 2019 increased to 2,308, from 2,114 in 2018, with the crude divorce rate calculated at 2.62 per 1,000 population in 2019, as compared to 2.43 in 2018.
 
The total divorce rate, which shows the proportion of marriages that are expected to end up in divorce, rose to 361.7 per 1,000 marriages in 2019, from 41.6 per 1,000 marriages in 1980, CyStat said.