The country’s population density has decreased by two people per sq. km in the last five years, and by 12 since 2000. It is also 16 people lower than the the record high reached in 1990, when 101 people per sq. km were registered.
The density levels reached are the lowest since 1968, before the communist regime implemented measures that resulted in decades of population growth.
This comes in the context of Romania’s population shrinking mainly due to high emigration rates and a negative birthrate. According to the National Statistics Institute, Romania’s population at the beginning of 2017 number 19.6 million residents.
The World Bank notes that Romania’s demographic evolution is in line with those of other states in the region, such as Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina.