KAUNAS COUNTY - Population
One of the highest percentages of working age population
The county of Kaunas is one of the largest in the country in terms of the size of its population, which numbered 696 143 at the beginning of 2003, or 20.1% of the total population in Lithuania. With a population density of 86.1 people per km2, it is second only to Vilnius county in terms of density. Nearly three quarters of its population live in towns, with the majority of them residing in Kaunas city, the second town by size in Lithuania.
Due to a decrease of 61 600 people in the city of Kaunas between 1992 and 2002 the population in the county as a whole also dropped slightly in this period. The net migration was negative in 2002 and the natural change in the population has been negative since 1994 as the number of deaths have outweighed the number of births. In Kaunas county women outnumber men, with 1 167 women per 1000 men at the beginning of 2003.
Though the number of births has been continuously decreasing since 1991. In 1990 the birth rate here was lower than the national average, whereas by 2002 it is on a par with the national average. The decline in the number of marriages influences the decrease in the birth rate, as between 1990 and 2002 the number of marriages halved. Children born out of marriage accounted for 27% of all births. The divorce rate was still above average at 3.3 divorces per 1 000 population.
The mortality rate in the county was the same as the national average in 1999. The highest mortality level was reached in 1994. Male mortality from malignant neoplasm and diseases of the respiratory system is the lowest in the country. Infant mortality rates are one of the lowest in the country: 6.6 deaths per 1 000 births in 2002.
At the beginning of 2003, the population aged 65 and over accounted for 14.5% of the county?s population, a figure which is below the national average and only less in Klaipeda, Vilnius and Tel?iai counties. The county also has one of the highest percentages of working age population (60.7%). Due to its young age structure, the working age population had one of the lowest number of dependants in 2002, with 649 dependants per 1000 of working age, half of whom were of pensionable age.
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