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(last updated: 2004-09-20 11:52:15)
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![Population age structure [2.69 kB]](http://www.polandguangzhou.com/en/img/464.gif) | | Population age structure | ![Population growth [2.40 kB]](http://www.polandguangzhou.com/en/img/465.gif) | | Population growth |
For the last few years life expectancy in Poland has been increasing steadily and the forecasts for the future are optimistic. For men, this rate is predicted to grow from the current 69 years to 74 years in 2025, while for women, from 78 to 81 years (compared with respectively 56 and 61.6 years in 1950).
Polish society is not young, but it cannot be called old yet. An average Pole is almost 35 years old (for women, it is 37; for men, 33). 56.2% of Poles are below 40.
The birth rate is on the decline. While in 1996 there were 428,200 births, in 2000 the figure dropped to just 378,000 (compared with a record 723,000 babies born in 1983). Statistically, most Polish women become mothers between the age of 25 and 29 (compared with 20-24 in the early 1990s). The better educated they are, the more frequently they postpone having children until their late 20s. The number of unmarried women is also increasing; currently it is about 20% (compared with just 5% in the early 1990s). In this respect, Poland has become similar to Switzerland and Sweden. The most popular family model is still 2+2, although increasingly couples decide to have only one child.
In 2000 there were 211,100 marriages. This figure is going down, with a simultaneous increase in the number of divorces. Compared with the postwar period, in the 1980s and 1990s the divorce rate skyrocketed. In 1946 only 8,000 couples terminated their marriage; in 1960 there were 14,800 divorces; in 1970 - 34,600; in 1980 - 39,800; in 1990 - 42,400; and in 2000 - 42,700. |
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