The number of inhabitants of Slovakia stood at around 5.421 million at the end of last year, the highest figure in the country's history, according to reports released by the Statistics Office on Monday. Of the total, 51.3 percent were female. Statistics Office chair Ľudmila Benkovičová reported that the population swelled by a total of 3,687 individuals in 2014, which was a y-o-y increase in growth of 953. However, when evaluating the 2014 demographic rate, Benkovičová stated that the long-term trend hasn't seen any significant change. "The most pressing problem remains the ageing of the population, which started in the 1960s. We're currently recording acceleration in this process, and the trend is here to stay in the years to come," she said. The average age of Slovaks in 2014 was 39.9 - 38.2 for men, and 41.4 for women.
Slovakia acquired 1,713 individuals via foreign migration, with 5,357 people moving in and 3,644 leaving the country in 2014. Migration growth thus fell by 666 individuals y-o-y. "The highest numbers of inhabitants moved in from the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Austria. Conversely, the highest numbers of Slovaks migrated to the Czech Republic, Austria, the United Kingdom and Germany," said population statistics department head Zuzana Podmanická.
