Romania's population will shrink to 15.633 million in 2080, from 19.043 million on January 1, 2025, according to the latest projections made by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), published on Friday, ahead of the World Population Day, marked every year on July 11.

The size of the resident population is expected to decrease by 3.410 million people (-17.9%) in 2080 from early 2025.The share of the young population (under 15 years old) and adults (15 - 64 years old) will decrease to 13.7% and 60.4%, respectively, and the share of the elderly population (65 years old and over) will increase to 25.9% of the total.

As of January 1, 2025, Romania's resident population was 19.043 million, including 51.5% living in urban areas, while the female population is a majority at 9.752 million (51.2% of the total resident population).

As against January 1, 2024, the demographic aging phenomenon deepens by reducing the young population (0 to 14 years old) by 92,200 people, with its share representing 15.4% of the total resident population.

There is also an increase in the share of the elderly population (aged 65 and over), from 20% on January 1, 2024, to 20.3% (45,100 people), a year later.

INS data reveal that the adult population (15-64 years old) represents 64.3% of the total, up 22,600 from the beginning of 2024.

At the same time, within the adult population, the share of the age groups 20-24 years, 25-29 years, 35-39 years and 55-59 years has increased, but that of the age groups 30-34 years, 40-44 years, 45-49 years, 50-54 years and 60-64 years has decreased.

According to official statistics, the average age of the resident population continued to increase reaching 42.8 years on January 1, 2025. At the same time, there is an acceleration of the demographic aging process from year to year, which is highlighted by an increase in the share of the elderly population (aged 65 and over). Thus, the demographic ageing index has increased from 81 (on 1 January 2005) to 131.3 elderly people per hundred young people (on 1 January 2025).

In early 2025, the Nord-Est development region - made up of the counties of Bacau, Botosani, Iasi, Neamt, Suceava and Vaslui - had the largest number of inhabitants, with a share of 16.9% in the country's resident population. At the opposite pole was the Vest development region (consisting of the counties of Arad, Caras-Severin, Hunedoara, Timis), with a share of only 8.8% in the resident population.

The Bucharest-Ilfov development region is the most urbanised region, with the population living in towns and cities representing 85.6% of the total population of the region.

As for the natural growth of the resident population, in 2025, it continued to be negative (-104,100 people) in all regions of the country. The largest negative growth was recorded in the region of Sud-Muntenia (-21,400 people), and the lowest in the Bucharest-Ilfov region (-7,300).

Significant negative values of the natural growth were also recorded in the regions of Sud-Est (-16,900 people), Nord-Est (-15,600) and Sud-Vest Oltenia (-14,400).

Statistics with the UN Population Division show that, as of July 1, 2023, the world's population was estimated at 8.1 billion, with the countries with the largest population being India (1.438 billion), China (1.422 billion), the United States of America (343 million), Indonesia (281 million) and Pakistan (247 million).

The world's population is projected to continue to grow in the next 50 or 60 years, and peak up at about 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s. After reaching that value, the global population will begin to gradually decline, to 10.2 billion by the end of the century.

In 63 countries and areas - which contained 28% of the world's population in 2024 - population size peaked before 2024. The group includes China, Germany, Japan and the Russian Federation.

In another 48 countries and areas, representing 10% of the world's population in the same year, population size is expected to peak between 2025 and 2054, and the group includes Brazil, Iran, Turkey and Vietnam.

The same UN statistic states that in the other 126 countries and areas, the population is likely to continue to grow until 2054 and peak later in the century or after 2100. The group includes some of the most populous countries in the world, such as: India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the United States of America.

According to Eurostat, Romania ranks 6th in the European Union (EU) in terms of resident population, as of January 1, 2025. The country with the largest population in the EU is Germany (83.577 million inhabitants), and at the opposite pole is Malta, with 574,300 inhabitants. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)

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