Birth rate down in Romania

Less and less children are born in Romania. The birth rate remained negative in our country in June this year, while the number of deceased people was 1.5 times higher than that of live births, according to a recent report released by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

June 2023 compared to May 2023
Birth rate, death rate and natural increase

The births of 12,320 children were recorded in June 2023, 922 less than in May 2023, while the number of deaths recorded in June 2023 was 18,153 (9,554 men and 8,599 women), 2,464 deaths (1,261 men and 1,203 women) less than in May 2023. The number of deaths of children under 1 year recorded in June 2023 was 70, a decrease of 17 deaths compared to May 2023.
Therefore, the natural increase remained negative in June 2023 (-5833); the number of deaths was 1.5 times higher than that of live births, INS pointed out.

The statisticians argue that the monthly evolution of the number of deaths and births during the June 2021- June 2023 period shows a significant increase in the number of deaths in October 2021, when, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the highest number of deaths of the entire period was reported. A significant number of deaths was also reported in February 2022; a fluctuating evolution was recorded in the period that followed, without reaching the values of the previous months. At the same time, the number of births reached its highest values in the July-September period, both in 2021 and in 2022, while the number of deaths was significant and the natural increase remained negative. In the first five months of 2023, the birth and death figures had the same evolution; decreases in both vital events were reported in June 2023 compared to the previous month.

Death rate

In June 2023, 41.1% (7466 deaths) of the total number of deaths were recorded for the age group of 80 years and over, 25.3% (4593 deaths) were recorded for persons aged 70-79 and 18.4% (3334 deaths) were for persons aged 60-69. By contrast, the fewest deaths were recorded for the age groups of 0-4 years (94 deaths), 5-19 years (54 deaths) and 20-29 years (72 deaths).

If we consider the main causes of death, in June 2023 the greatest number of persons died of diseases of the circulatory system (9711 persons, accounting for 53.5%), neoplasms (3734 persons, accounting for 20.6%) and diseases of the respiratory system (1408 persons, accounting for 7.8%).

Marriage rate and divorce rate
10,470 marriages were recorded at Register Offices in June 2023, 285 more than in May 2023. 2,278 divorces were formally pronounced by final court decree and in accordance with Law No 202/2010 in June 2023, 418 more than in May 2023.

June 2023 compared to June 2022
Birth rate, death rate and natural increase
The number of live births recorded in June 2023 was smaller by 2581 than in the same month of 2022. The natural increase was negative both in June 2023 (-5833 persons) and in June 2022 (-4073 persons).
The number of persons who died in June 2023 was smaller by 821 than in June 2022. Based on the three main causes of death, 491 less deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system were recorded in June 2023 than in June 2022, the number of deaths due to neoplasms was smaller by 8, and 54 less deaths due to diseases of the respiratory system were reported.
The number of children under 1 year who died was smaller by 21 in June 2023 than the one recorded in June 2022. In June 2023, the deaths of 9,074 persons (4,776 men and 4,298 women) were recorded in the urban area and 9,079 deaths (4,778 men and 4,301 women) were recorded in the rural area. Compared to the same month of,2022, the number of persons who died decreased by 360 persons (218 men and 142 women) in the urban,area and by 461 persons (194 men and 267 women) in the rural area.

30% drop in the birth rate compared to 10 years ago

If we go further in the past, 10 years ago, in the first 6 months, around 100,000 children were born in Romania. Today, their number barely exceeds 70,000, so there is a 30% decrease in the birth rate in our country. Moreover, there are 700 children born to children (minors) and a very large number of children born abroad.

The  INS president Tudorel Andrei, told the conference “Family Health and Birth”, held at the Romanian Academy, about children born abroad and registered in Romania (between 2009 – 2022) that there are 410,927 children, out of a total number of 2,880,097 children registered in Romania.