Romania registers lowest natality rate in last 100 years

Romania has registered the lowest natality rate in a century – with figures showing that less than 150,000 babies were born last year. 

Many Romanian villages are registering an ageing population. In urban areas, many are choosing to put their career first and instead have children at a later age.  

Some schools and kindergartens have been forced to shut due to the lack of children available to attend courses. This could be seen in the villages of Chilia or Brebu. 

“There is no school here anymore,” said Alexandru Petzi, a former manager of a closed school in Brebu, “There is another school in another village nearby, in Valic. There are two children from our village who go to school there.” 

Nevertheless, Romanian specialists are attributing the changes to a normal process of modernisation which should not scare anyone.  

“I myself wouldn’t be afraid of this, we are talking about a process underway in many European countries,” said Romanian Academy sociologist Bogdan Voicu. 

“Romania has started a couple of years ago to modernise, demographically speaking,” he added. 

Statistics show that Romanian municipalities of Tulcea, Caras Severin, Mehedinti, Covasna, Teleorman and Giurgiu are on the list with a notably low natality rate. 

Almost a hundred years ago in 1930, Romania registered more than 480,000 births – a stark contrast to modern times.