Romania’s resident population accounted for 19.051 million people on 1 January 2023, up by 9,107 people compared to 1 January 2022, with immigration being the main reason for the country’s population growth for the first time, according to a press release the National Institute of Statistics (INS) issued on Wednesday. Urban population as well as women hold the majority (52.1% and 51.4% respectively), write Agerpres.

According to the INS, the phenomenon of demographic ageing continues to worsen (rising to 122 elderly people for every 100 young people under 15), with the gap between the elderly population aged 65 and over and the young population aged 0-14 reaching 677,000 people (3.762 million compared to 3.085 million people), up from 617,000 people on 1 January 2022. The balance of long-term temporary international migration was positive (85,480 persons).

According to the INS, on 1 January 2023, the urban resident population stood at 9.931 million people, down 0.3% from 1 January 2022. The female population on 1 January 2023 was 9.802 million, down 0.01% from the same date the previous year. The process of demographic ageing has deepened, with the share of the elderly population (aged 65 and over) increasing 0.3 percentage points compared to 1 January 2022 (from 19.4% in 2022 to 19.7% on 1 January 2023).

The share of 0-14 year olds in the total population stagnated at 16.2%. The demographic ageing index has increased from 120 (on 1 January 2022) to 122 elderly people per 100 young people (on 1 January 2023). The demographic dependency ratio went up from 55.5 (on 1 January 2022) to 56.1 young and old persons per 100 adults (on 1 January 2023). For the first time, immigration is the main reason for the country’s population growth in 2022. In 2022, men hold the majority among emigrants (50.2%). Among immigrants, men also represented the majority (53.3%).