The demographic changes of the last quarter of century in Romania

• Author: Litra A.V.
• Pages: 355-364

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 8 (57) No. 2 - 2015

The demographic changes of the last quarter of

century in Romania

Adriana Veronica LITRA1

Abstract: The year 1990 has delimited two different demographic periods in Romania: the

first, defined as Stage 2 in the Demographic Transition Model (as in Population Education,

USA), characterized by low mortality rates due to advances in medical, and high birth rates,

resulting rapid population growth; after 1990, Romania moved to Stage 5, having a negative

growth rate due to less births than deaths, and a negative net migration rate. Romania is

experiencing a falling population with birth rates at 8.3 births per 1,000 persons and death

rates at 11.4 per 1,000 persons in 2014. The total fertility rate fell significantly below the

replacement level of generations (1.4 live births per woman in 2014), reversing the

proportion of elderly in detriment of the youth.

Key-words: demographic transition, population, demographic ageing

1. Introduction

The year 1990 marked for Romania a historical turning-point. Before 1990,

Romania was characterized by a centralised coordination of the economy, it was a

relatively closed country, with relatively closed borders regarding migration, having

a restrictive regime of border control, external migration being controlled in both

directions and largely repressed.

The changing of the political system from socialism to democracy and the

transition to a market economy had an impact not only on the economy but it had

fundamentally changed many aspects of Romanian society. Economic restructuring

has generated redefining of the labour market, rising unemployment, increasing the

number of emigrants due to the possibilities of free movement, changes in the

purchasing power, living standards and thus a different view on family founding

time and desired family size.

The economic transformation has been even more noticeable in the early 21st

century, with the economic reforms initiated in pre-accession and accession periods

to EU enlargement, accomplished by Romania in 2007: fiscal policies became

stricter according to the EU accession criteria, privatization processes were

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, adriana.litra@unitbv.ro