Selected Demographic Consequences of the Covid-19 Epidemic in Poland

The COVID-19 pandemic caused negative effects in many aspects of life, including its impact on demographic events, causing not only an increase in the number of deaths but also a decrease in the number of births or marriages. The aim of the study was an attempt to answer the question of what effects this pandemic had on selected demographic events in Poland. To assess the impact of this epidemic on selected demographic phenomena, methods of time series analysis with seasonality were used. The study found that between 2020 and 2022, there were approximately 200,000 excess deaths due to this pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, primarily among people aged 60 years and older. During the same period, there was a decrease in the number of births by around 30,000. In addition there was also a decrease in the number of marriages, which was around 100 000 lower in the period 2020–2022 compared to the 2015–2019 average. In contrast, changes in the number of divorces during this epidemic followed the long-term trend observed between 2015 and 2019, excluding only 2020.