Romania’s natural population growth was negative in July this year, with 4,659 people, while the number of marriages decreased by 2,114 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data centralized by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), published on Monday, write Agerpres.

According to the cited source, the number of registered births was 982 lower and the number of deaths decreased by 2,026 in July 2023 compared to July 2022. After the top three leading causes of death, there were 1,333 fewer such events caused by diseases of the circulatory system, while 68 fewer deaths had tumours as the leading cause and 433 fewer deaths caused by diseases of the respiratory system. The natural growth was negative in both July 2023 (4,659 persons) and July 2022 (5,703 persons).

In context, the number of deaths of children under the age of 1 was lower by 4 in July this year than in July 2022. INS data show that in urban areas, there were 9,564 deaths (4,930 men and 4,634 women), while in rural areas there were 9,382 deaths (4,974 men and 4,408 women).

Compared to the same month in 2022, the number of deaths decreased by 1,048 (607 men and 441 women) in urban areas and by 978 (428 men and 550 women) in rural areas. At the same time, the number of marriages decreased by 2,114, year on year, and in July 2023, ten fewer divorces were pronounced by final court decisions and by agreement of the spouses through administrative or notarial procedures than in July of the previous year.