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The population of the Czech Republic fell by 12,300 in the first three quarters of this year, dropping to just under 10.9 million. At the end of September, the country had exactly 10,897,178 inhabitants. The decline was caused by a significant excess of deaths over births; there were nearly 25,100 more people who died than children born from the beginning of the year through the end of September. This was the deepest natural population decrease recorded for the first three quarters since the establishment of the independent Czech Republic, the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) announced on Friday.

Even the fact that roughly 12,800 more people moved to Czechia than left for abroad did not offset the decline. Year-on-year, both births and marriages decreased, while deaths and divorces were slightly higher compared to the same period last year.

A ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court has confirmed that, during Andrej Babiš’s (ANO) first term (2017-2021) as prime minister, his conflict of interest barred Agrofert companies not only from receiving subsidies but also from bidding for small-scale public contracts.

The court rejected an appeal by the Moravian-Silesian Region, which had hired Navos Farm Technic—part of Agrofert—to build school workshops in Bruntál. The Ministry for Regional Development then refused to pay part of a state subsidy. The argument behind it was that, at the time, although Babiš had placed Agrofert in a trust, an EU audit found he still indirectly controlled it.

Agrofert firms have recently filed a string of such unsuccessful appeals over withheld subsidies.

Now incoming prime minister Babiš, has announced he will sever ties with Agrofert to avoid further conflict-of-interest disputes. Opposition politicians and some experts doubt whether this new arrangement truly cuts his economic links to Agrofert.

The ministers of the likely future government  of Andrej Babiš (ANO) will meet at the Government Office on Monday, immediately after being appointed by President Petr Pavel, for their first planning session. Babiš, who has been Prime Minister since Tuesday, will then introduce them to their respective offices. This was stated in a press announcement released by the Government Office on Thursday.

The new government formed of ANO, the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD), and the Motorists is expected to consist of 14 ministries. The appointment ceremony at Prague Castle is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. According to the announcement, the subsequent inaugurations will continue until the evening.

In 2024, living standards in Czechia moved slightly closer to the EU average, according to data from the Czech Statistical Office. GDP per capita, measured in purchasing power, increased by one percentage point to 91 % of the EU average. This puts Czechia on a level with Slovenia and Spain and makes it the highest-ranked country in the Visegrád Group (Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary).

By comparison, Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the EU at 242 % of the average, while Bulgaria remains the lowest at 66 %.