Romania lost more than 120,000 people in 2017, mainly due to the natural decline, as the number of deaths exceeded the number of live births by 71,125 people last year, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS) released on Wednesday, August 29. Migration was the second most important cause.

The decrease is lower than the one registered in 2016, however, when Romania’s resident population dropped by 122,000 people.

On January 1, 2018, Romania had a resident population of 19.52 million people, with most of them, namely 10.49 million, living in urban areas. However, the urban resident population dropped slightly year-on-year, by 0.3%. The female population on January 1, 2018 was of 9.98 million people, down 0.6% year-on-year.

The balance of international migration in 2017 was negative, with the number of emigrants exceeding the number of immigrants by over 53,000 people. Men emigrated in a greater proportion than women (50.9%), the INS data also showed.

The demographic aging has also deepened last year, the country seeing an increase in the share of the elderly (65 years and over). The demographic aging index increased from 114.4 (on January 1, 2017) to 116.9 elderly per 100 young people (January 1, 2018).

A UN reported revealed earlier this year that Romania is among a group of several Eastern Europe countries that are set to experience a decline of over 15% in their population by 2050.

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Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com