The smallest commune in Romania is in Hunedoara. It has only 88 inhabitants, a third less than 10 years ago, according to the provisional data of the 2021 census published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
It is about Bătrâna commune in Hunedoara county with only 88 inhabitants (down from RPL2011 when 127 inhabitants were reviewed). In the previous census, the smallest was the commune of Brebu Nou in Caraș-Severin with 119 inhabitants, which, in the 2021 census, registered an increase, reaching 166 inhabitants.
However, although the village with the lowest number of inhabitants, Batrana, located in a picturesque location in Padurea Rusca Mountains, is luring large number of tourists, who are dragged here by the scenery.
At the opposite side, the largest commune in Romania is the commune of Florești in Cluj County, which maintained this position in both censuses. But, within a decade, the resident population of Florești commune increased 2.3 times.
The town of Băile Tușnad maintained its position as the smallest town in Romania (1372 inhabitants compared to 1641 inhabitants in 2011). The largest city in the 2021 census is Popești Leordeni.
And ten years ago and in 2021, the smallest municipality was and is Orșova from Mehedinți county with a population of only 8,506 people, down by 1,935 people compared to ten years ago.
“Excluding the municipality of Bucharest, the largest municipality in Romania is Cluj-Napoca in Cluj county, which has kept this position for the last ten years, although it has reduced its population by 37,978 people, down to a population of 286,598 inhabitants. But this reduction must be seen from a broader perspective, taking into account the neighboring localities, where the urban population chose to move to the house. Thus, if the municipality of Cluj-Napoca, alone, without neighborhoods, decreased to 88.3% of the population ten years ago, measured together with neighboring localities according to the data in the table below, had a slight increase (101.8%)”, INS says.
Only two counties in Romania gained inhabitants in the last ten years
The aging phenomenon has intensified in Romania, with the average age of the resident population increasing in the last ten years to 42.4 years, compared to 40.8 years, according to the 2022 census. The largest population reductions in the last ten years were recorded by the counties Caraș-Severin and Teleorman, while only two counties – Bistrita-Năsăud and Suceava – gained inhabitants, according to the data transmitted on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics.
The county with the oldest population
Ilfov county has a young population, with the lowest average age in the country, 38.6 years. The populations of Iași (39.2) and Suceava (39.9) counties are also under 40, according to the INS. Teleorman county has the oldest population, with an average age of 46.3 years. The populations of Hunedoara (45.5 years) and Brăila (45.3 years) counties are also over 45 years old.
As for regions, the region with the youngest population is the North-East region, where the average age is 40.8 years, and at the opposite pole is the South-West Oltenia region, with an average age of 43.7 years.