Romania’s natural population growth remained negative in December 2022, standing at minus 10,474, as the number of deaths was 1.8 times higher than the number of live births, shows data released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), according to Agerpres.

As many as 13,230 live births were registered in December 2022, by 25 more than in November 2022, while the number of deaths was 23,704 (12,401 men and 11,303 women), exceeding by 3,360 (1,843 men and 1,517 women) the number registered in November. There were 102 infant deaths, by 13 more than in November 2022.

According to INS data, 66.6 percent of the total number of deaths occurred in people aged at least 70 (there were 9,897 deaths in people aged 80 and over – accounting for 41.8 percent of the total; 5,875 deaths in people aged 70-79 – 24.8 pct; and 4,407 deaths in people aged 60-69 – 18.6 pct). At the opposite end, the fewest deaths were recorded in the age categories 0 – 4 years (117 deaths), 20 – 29 (112) and 5 – 19 (59). The main causes of death were circulatory diseases (13,188, representing 55.6 percent of the month’s death total), tumors (4,171, representing 17.6 pct of the month’s total), and respiratory diseases (2,091 representing 8.8 pct of the month’s total).

The number of live births during the reference period was by 2,401 lower YoY, and the number of deaths was by 2,459 lower.

The number of children who died under one year of age was 7 times higher in December 2022 than in December 2021.

Agerpres