Romania’s population could decrease to 17.1 million people by 2040, which would represent a drop of 14.6 percent. By 2060, the figure could further drop to 14.27 million, according to projections of the statistics institute INS, said the INS president Tudorel Andrei, cited by local Agerpres.

At the beginning of 2014, the resident population of Romania stood at 19.94 million people, falling under 20 million for the first time since 1968.

Between 2002 and 2014, Romania’s resident population decreased by some 1.7 million people, the largest decreases being registered in 2007 and 2008. A relative stability was registered after 2010, said the INS president.

According to INS, some of the causes for the population’s decrease were the reduced birth rate in the last 25 years, the average age of the mother at the first birth (from 23.7 years in 2000 at 26.2 years in 2012), the drop in the fertility rate, but also the external migration.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com