Romania facing demographic crisis, CIA figures show

Foto: INQUAM/Virgil Simionescu

Romania has the world’s second worst mortality rate and one of the lowest global birthrates, new statistics from the CIA reveal.

Demographic decline

Romanian government officials on Thursday confirmed the figures in the updated CIA. The World Factbook and spoke of “an unprecedented demographic decline”.

Romania has just completed a census but the results haven’t been made public yet.

The CIA estimated its population was about 18.5 million, which if true would be about 4.5 million fewer than when communism ended in 1989.

Mortality rate

The latest information on the CIA’s website – The World Factbook said Romania had 15.26 deaths per thousand inhabitants, the second worst mortality rate anywhere.

Only Serbia ranked worse with a mortality rate of 16.39 deaths per thousand inhabitants.

The CIA ranks Ukraine in sixth position with 13.77 deaths per thousand inhabitants, and Russia comes next with 13.36.

The mortality rate is compounded by another indicator– a low birthrate.

Births

Romania has 8.76 births per thousand inhabitants, and is ranked 207th out of 228 indexed countries.

Gabriela Firea, the Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities Minister told Digi24. “It is true that Romania is going through a sharp demographic crisis and there is an urgent need for a the most important state institutions to come up with a demographic policy…. and  research  the quality of life of Romanian families.”

She said the  ministry  was working with the Romanian Academy through the Research Institute for Quality of Life.  „We need solid research in this field, to know the scientific causes in order to be able to come up with long-term solutions”, she added.

Sociologist

She said that the ministry would present “a project to increase the birth rate” at a government meeting.

Sociologist Antonio Amuza told Digi24 that that the figures provided by the CIA should also be confirmed by the census in Romania that has just ended.

He said Romania’s falling population was partly caused by emigration.

Romania’s population expected to decline by almost 9% by 2050

 

 

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