Romania lost the equivalent of a large city in 11 months due to demographic crisis

Sorin Melenciuc 14/01/2019 | 10:57

Romania’s population fell by 63,822 inhabitants, the equivalent of large city like Alba Iulia, in the first 11 months of last year due to demographic factors, as the number of deaths continues to exceed the number of births, National Institute of Statistics (INS) data show.

Compared with the first 11 months of 2017, the natural decrease of population accelerated by 6.5 percent in January-November 2018.

Romania registered 173,936 births and 237,758 deaths in the first 11 months of 2018, compared with 178,428 births and 238,853 deaths in January-November 2017.

Last year, the second-poorest EU member state lost 71,125 inhabitants, or 0.36 percent of its total population, due to demographic factors, as the number of deaths exceeded the number of births.

Romania had 19.52 million inhabitants at the beginning of 2018, a 50-year low, due to negative natural increase and large migration, and this trend will have a large impact on economic growth during the next decade by mitigating potential GDP growth rates, Banca Transilvania’s analysts said in a recent research note.

In 2017, Romania’s population declined by 120,700 inhabitants compared to the previous year, due to demographic decline and emigration, according to official data.

The main cause of this decrease is the negative natural increase, the number of deceased persons exceeding the number of live births by 71,125 persons. Also, the long-term temporary international migration balance was negative (- 53,381 people).

Around 3.5 million Romanians have gone abroad between 2007 and 2015 to escape poverty and widespread corruption in their country, according to a UN International Migration Report.

This number places the country on the second place globally by emigration growth rate between 2007 and 2015, after Syria.

Without the rampant emigration, Romania would have more than 22 million inhabitants, according to official data.

By 2050, the government expects the population to plunge to around 16 million inhabitants.

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