One and a half Moscow: Bucharest is sounding the alarm — Romania cannot survive without migrants

The number of permanent population of Romania as of January 1, 2025 decreased by 31,545 people compared to the beginning of the previous year and amounted to 19,036,031 inhabitants. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), the phenomenon of aging continues to grow — for 130 elderly people, there are 100 young people under the age of 15. The publication informs about this Profit.Ro .

EADaily reminds that the population of Moscow, as of the beginning of this year, exceeded 13 million people.

According to official statistics, the main reason for the population decline was the negative natural increase (the difference between the number of births and deaths) — minus 101.8 thousand people. As of January 1, 2025, the urban population amounted to 9.768 million people, which is 1.3% less than in the same period of 2024.

Also, the number of female population registered in the analyzed interval amounted to 9.777 million people, which is 0.2% less compared to the reference period. INS data indicate a deepening of the demographic aging process, while the proportion of the elderly population (65 years and older) continues to grow. Compared to January 1, 2024, it increased by 0.3% (from 20% to 20.3% as of January 1, 2025).

At the same time, the share of the population aged 0-14 years in the total population decreased from 15.9% as of January 1, 2024 to 15.6% this year, and the demographic aging index increased from 125.8 to 130 elderly people per hundred young people (as of January 1, 2025). At the same time, the demographic load factor at the beginning of this year remained at the level of 56.1 young and elderly people per one hundred adults. As for the balance of international migration, in 2024 it was positive: the number of immigrants exceeded the number of emigrants by 58.8 thousand people.

"(...) Romania continued to be a country of immigration. However, the balance of international migration, which decreased compared to previous years, could not compensate for the negative natural increase (-102 thousand people). As a result, as of January 1, 2025, the number of permanent residents of Romania was decreasing compared to the same date of the previous year," the analysts of the Immigration and Naturalization Service state.