Births Decreasing in BiH, Divorces Increasing, Unemployment Rising

The natural population growth rate in BiH for the first six months of 2014 was -3,568, a slight decrease compared to 2013, but these figures remain very worrying, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

According to data from the Agency for Statistics of BiH, 13,441 children were born in the period January-June, which is a decrease of 5.67% compared to the previous year.

In the same period, 17,009 people died, and a decrease in deaths of 7.25% was recorded compared to 2013, but with a decrease in the number of births, this is not encouraging.

As Patria previously reported, the negative natural population growth will affect all aspects of social life. The only way to prevent this phenomenon is to increase the number of births, but this raises another problem. Fewer and fewer people are deciding to marry, especially to have children, in times of severe economic hardship, as statistics show.

In BiH, 7,788 marriages were concluded in the period January-June 2014 (5,622 in the FBiH), which is a decrease of 1.74% compared to the same period last year. 852 marriages were divorced, an increase of 9.79% compared to 2013.

On the other hand, the trend of young people leaving BiH continues. There are several reasons for this. The number of unemployed, according to data from the Employment and Labor Agency, was 548,612 at the end of July 2014. It has long been known that the unemployment rate among young people is over 50% and is the highest in the region. A new USAID spot also presented these figures, stating that 600,000 people in BiH are on the brink of poverty, and we are the worst country for investments, writes Patria.