Prague - In September, there were 10.349.372 people living in the Czech Republic. It is the highest number since the end of 1980s.

As the latest available data released by the Czech Bureau of Statistics (ČSÚ) show, rising birthrate combined with decreasing mortality resulted in nearly ten thousands of "new" Czechs boosting the population total.

If the statistics for the last quarter of this year confirm the trend,  this year's overall increase could be the biggest since 1981.

Immigration: Safe, sound, stable

However, the so-called natural population increase accounts only for one sixth of the general growth.

The record increase in the numbers of inhabitants is based above all on the immigration, with 52,4 thousand "settlers" coming to the Czech Republic this year.

With the natural increase added up, the total population growth from 1 January 2007 has been 62,2 thousand.

07/07/07 - simply irresistible

In the first nine months of this year, there has been 86,4 thousand childbirths. If compared with the previous year, it is six thousand more.

Also, the number of marriages is higher than in previous years. One of the reasons behind this was a "mystical" date of 7 July 2007. Four thousand and four hundred superstitionist pairs exchanged their vows on that day.