Demographics of Romania

Demographic features of the population of Romania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Romania
Population pyramid of Romania as of 2024
Population	19,051,562 (2023)[1]
Density	83.4/km2 (216/sq mi)
Growth rate	1.19% (2023)
Birth rate	9.292 births/1,000 population (2023)
Death rate	13.393 deaths/1,000 population (2023)
Life expectancy	76.6 years (2023)
• male	72.9 years
• female	80.5 years
Fertility rate	1.71 children born/woman (2022)[2]
Infant mortality rate	5.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2023)[3][4]
Net migration rate	−0.24 migrants/1,000 population (2015)
Age structure
0–14 years	3,073,902 (16.1%)
15–64 years	12,253,533 (64.3%)
65 and over	3,726,380 (19.6%)
Sex ratio
Total	0.95 males/female (2014)
At birth	1.06 males/female
Under 15	1.05 males/female
15–64 years	1.02 males/female
65 and over	0.73 males/female
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Romanian(s), adjective: Romanian
Major ethnic	Romanians (89.33%)[5]
Minor ethnic	Hungarians (6.05%) Romanis (3.44%) Other groups (1.18%)
Language
Official	Romanian
Spoken	Romanian and other minority languages

About 89.3% of the people of Romania are ethnic Romanians (as per 2021 census), whose native language, Romanian, is an Eastern Romance language, descended from Latin (more specifically from Vulgar Latin) with some Slavic, French, Turkish, German, Hungarian, Greek and Italian borrowings.

Romanians are by far the most numerous group of speakers of an Eastern Romance language today. It has been said that they constitute "an island of Latinity"^[6] in Eastern Europe, surrounded on all sides either by Slavic peoples (namely South Slavic and East Slavic peoples) or by the Hungarians. The Hungarian minority in Romania constitutes the country's largest minority, or as much as 6.0 per cent of the entire population.^[7] With a population of about 19,054,267 people in 2022, Romania received 989,357 Ukrainian refugees on 27 May 2022, according to the United Nations (UN).^[8]

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022 triggered a major refugee crisis in Europe.^[9] In connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, as part of the Russian-Ukrainian war, by 15 May 2022, more than 6,223,821 Ukrainian refugees left the territory of Ukraine, moving to the countries closest to the west of Ukraine, of which more than 919,574 people fled to neighbouring Romania.^[8]

Population evolution

Main article: Demographic history of Romania

See also: List of cities and towns in Romania and Metropolitan areas in Romania

Birth and death rates in 1950–2008. A huge surge of the birth rate in 1967 is the most prominent feature of these graphs.

Romania's population has declined steadily in recent decades, from a peak of 23.2 million in 1990 to 19.12 million in 2021.^[10] Among the causes of population decline are high mortality, a low fertility rate since 1990, and tremendous levels of emigration.^[10]

In 1990, Romania's population was estimated to be 23.21 million inhabitants.^[11] For the entire period 1990–2006, the estimated population loss tops 1.5 million,^[11] but it is likely to be higher, given the explosion of migration for work after 2001 and the tendency of some migrants to settle permanently in the countries where they live.^[12]

Sources give varied estimates for Romania's historical population. The National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (NIRDI) gives the following numbers (the figure for 2020 was provided by the National Institute of Statistics – INS):

See or edit source data.

See or edit source data.

^[13]

See or edit source data.

Ethnic groups

Main article: Minorities in Romania

Romanians by counties (Ethnic maps 1930–2021)

Ethnic map (1930 census)

Ethnic map (1977 census)

Ethnicity in Romania by county (inhabitants) based on the 2002 census data

Romanians in Romania based on 2002 census data

Ethnic map (2011 census)

Ethnic map (2021 census)

Slightly more than 10% of the population of Romania is formed of minorities in Romania. The principal minorities are Hungarians and Roma, although other smaller ethnic groups exist too. Before World War II, minorities represented more than 28% of the total population. During the war that percentage was halved, largely by the loss of the border areas of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (to the former Soviet Union, now Moldova and Ukraine) and southern Dobrudja (to Bulgaria). Two-thirds of the ethnic German population either left or were deported after World War II, a period that was followed by decades of relatively regular (by communist standards) migration. During the interwar period in Romania, the total number of ethnic Germans amounted to as much as 786,000 (according to some sources and estimates dating to 1939),^[14][15] a figure which had subsequently fallen to circa 36,000 as of 2011 in contemporary Romania. One reason for the decline of Romanian Germans is that after the Romanian Revolution there has been a mass migration of Transylvania Saxons to Germany, in what was referred by British daily newspaper Guardian to as 'the most astonishing, and little reported, ethnic migration in modern Europe'.^[16]

Of a total population of three quarter million Jews before World War II, about a third were killed during the Holocaust.^[17] Mass emigration, mostly to Israel and United States, has reduced the surviving Jewish community to less than 6,000 in 2002 (it is estimated that the real numbers could be 3–4 times higher).^[18]

Hungarians (Magyars; see Hungarians in Romania, especially in Harghita, Covasna, and Mureș counties) and Roma (see Romani people in Romania) are the principal minorities, with a declining German population (Banat Swabians in Timiș; Transylvanian Saxons in Sibiu, Brașov and elsewhere), and smaller numbers of Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and Banat Bulgarians (in Banat), Ukrainians (especially in Maramureș and Bukovina), Greeks of Romania (especially in Brăila and Constanța), Turks and Tatars (mainly in Constanța), Armenians, Russians (Lipovans, Old Believers in Tulcea), Jews and others. Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Bucharest and other cities have again become increasingly cosmopolitan, including identifiable presences from outside the EU (Chinese, Turks, Moldovans, Syrians, Iraqis, Africans) as well as from the EU (French, Italians, Germans, British, Greeks).^[19] In Romania, there are also guest workers from countries such as Vietnam and Nepal.^[20][21]

Minority populations are greatest in Transylvania and the Banat, areas in the north and west of the country, which were part of the Kingdom of Hungary (after 1867 the Austria-Hungary) until the end of World War I. Even before the union with Romania, ethnic Romanians comprised the overall majority in Transylvania. However, ethnic Hungarians and Germans were the dominant urban population until relatively recently, while Hungarians still constitute the majority in Harghita and Covasna counties.

The Roma constitute one of Romania's largest minorities. According to the 2011 Romanian census, they number 621,573 people or 3.08% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians,^[22] with significant populations in Mureș (8.9%) and Călărași (7,47%) counties. There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Roma ancestry in Romania because a lot of people of Roma descent do not declare themselves as Roma. The number of the Roma is usually underestimated in official statistics and may represent 5–11% of Romania's population.^[23]

After Hungarians and the Roma, Ukrainians of Romania are the third-largest minority. According to the 2011 Romanian census they number 51,703 people, making up 0.3% of the total population.^[24] Ukrainians mainly live in northern Romania, in areas close to the Ukrainian border. Over 60% of all Romanian Ukrainians live in Maramureș County (where they make up 6.77% of the population).

Censuses in Romania

Evolution of Romania's population between 1859–1899^[25]

Year	Population
1859–60	3,864,848[25]−4,424,961[26]
1884	4,648,123
1889	5,038,342
1894	5,406,249
1899	5,956,690

Population of Romania according to ethnic group in 1899^[27]

Ethnicity	Number	%
Romanians		92.15
Hungarians		1.82
Germans		0.13
Austrians		–
Russians		0.08
Bulgarians		0,13
Turks		0.40
Serbs		0.07
Greeks		0.34
Italians		0.15
Foreigners without protection		4,68
Others		0.00
Unknown		0.00
Total	5,956,690

Population of Romania according to religion in 1899
Orthodoxy			91.5%
Judaism			4.5%
Catholicism			2.5%
Protestantism			0.4%
Muslim			0.7%

Population of Romania according to ethnic group in 1912^[28]

Ethnicity	Number	%
Romanians		93.47
Hungarians		0.96
Germans		0.11
Austrians		0.63
Russians		0.06
Bulgarians		0.16
Turks		0.47
Serbs		0.06
Greeks		0.24
Italians		0.15
Foreigners without protection		3.63
Others		0.01
Unknown		0.01
Total	7,234,920

Population of Romania according to religion in 1912
Orthodoxy			93.1%
Judaism			3.3%
Catholicism			2.2%
Protestantism			0.3%
Muslim			0.7%

Population of Romania according to ethnic group in 1930^[29]

Ethnicity	Number	%
Romanians	12,981,324	71.9
Hungarians	1,425,507	7.9
Germans	745,421	4.1
Jews	728,115	4.0
Ruthenians and Ukrainians	582,115	3.2
Russians	409,150	2.3
Bulgarians	366,384	2.0
Roma (Gypsies)	262,501	1.5
Turks	154,772	0.9
Gagauzians	105,750	0.6
Czechs and Slovaks	51,842	0.3
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes	51,062	0.3
Poles	48,310	0.3
Greeks	26,495	0.2
Tatars	22,141	0.1
Armenians	15,544	<0.1
Hutsuls	12,456	<0.1
Albanians	4,670	<0.1
Others	56,355	0.3
Undeclared	7,114	<0.1
Total	18,057,028	100.0

Population of Romania according to ethnic group 1948–2021

Ethnic group	census 19481		census 19562		census 19663		census 19774		census 19925		census 20026		census 20117			census 20218
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	%*	Number	%	%*
Romanians	13,597,613	85.7	14,996,114	85.7	16,746,510	87.7	18,999,565	88.1	20,408,542	89.5	19,399,597	89.5	16,792,868	83.5	88.9	14,801,442	77.7	89.3
Hungarians	1,499,851	9.4	1,587,675	9.1	1,619,592	8.5	1,713,928	7.9	1,624,959	7.1	1,431,807	6.6	1,227,623	6.1	6.5	1,002,151	5.3	6.0
Roma (Gypsies)	53,425	0.3	104,216	0.6	64,197	0.3	227,398	1.05	401,087	1.8	535,140	2.5	621,573	3.1	3.3	569,477	3.0	3.4
Ukrainians	37,582	0.2	60,479	0.4	54,705	0.3	55,510	0.3	65,764	0.3	61,098	0.3	50,920	0.3	0.3	45,835	0.3	0.3
Germans	343,913	2.2	384,708	2.2	382,595	2.0	359,109	1.6	119,462	0.5	59,764	0.3	36,042	0.2	0.2	22,907	0.1	0.1
Turks	28,782	0.2	14,329	0.2	18,040	0.1	23,422	0.1	29,832	0.1	32,098	0.2	27,698	0.1	0.1	20,945	0.1	0.1
Russians	39,332	0.2	38,731	0.2	39,483	0.2	21,206	0.2	7,983	0.1	35,791	0.2	23,864	0.1	0.1	19,394	0.1	0.1
Lipovans							11,090	0.1	30,623	0.2
Tatars							23,369	0.1	24,596	0.1						18,156	0.1	0.1
Serbs	45,447	0.3	46,517	0.3	44,236	0.3	34,429	0.2	29,408	0.1	22,561	0.1	18,076	0.1	0.1	12,026	0.0	0.1
Croats							7,500	0.0	4,085	0.0	6,807	0.0	5,408	0.0	0.0	4,842	0.0	0.0
Slovenes											175	0.0
Slovaks	35,143	0.2	23,331	0.2	22,151	0.1	21,286	0.1	19,594	0.1	17,226	0.2	13,654	0.1	0.1	10,232	0.0	0.1
Czechs			11,821	0.0	9,978	0.0	7,683	0.0	5,797	0.0	3,941	0.0	2,477	0.0	0.0	1,576	0.0	0.0
Bulgarians	13,408	0.1	12,040	0.1	11,193	0.1	10,372	0.0	9,851	0.1	8,025	0.0	7,336	0.0	0.0	5,975	0.0	0.0
Greeks	8,696	0.1	11,166	0.0	9,088	0.0	6,262	0.0	3,940	0.0	6,472	0.0	3,668	0.0	0.0	2,086	0.0	0.0
Jews	138,795	0.9	146,264	0.8	42,888	0.2	24,667	0.1	8,955	0.0	5,785	0.0	3,271	0.0	0.0	2,378	0.0	0.0
Poles	6,753	0.0	7,627	0.0	5,860	0.0	4,641	0.0	4,232	0.0	3,559	0.0	2,543	0.0	0.0	2,137	0.0	0.0
Armenians	6,987	0.0	6,441	0.0	3,436	0.0	2,342	0.0	1,957	0.0	1,780	0.0	1,361	0.0	0.0	1,213	0.0	0.0
Macedonians							1,176	0.0	6,867	0.0	731	0.0	1,264	0.0	0.0	1,089	0.0	0.0
Csangos											1,266	0.0	1,536	0.0	0.0
Aromanians							982	0.0	21,736	0.1
Others	15,897	0.1	17,522	0.1	6,990	<0.1	5,731	<0.1	9,368	<0.1	28,303	0.1	23,741	0.1	0.1	25,028	0.2
Undeclared													1,236,810	6.14		2,484,926	13.0
Total	15,872,624		17,489,450		19,103,163		21,559,910		22,810,035		21,680,974		20,121,641			19,053,815
1 The results of the 1948 census are according to language. 2 Source:[30] 3 Source:[30] 4 Source:[30] 5 Source:[30] 6 Source:[31] 7 Source:[32] 8 Source:[33]%*: of those declared ethnicity

Vital statistics

Romania total fertility rate by county (2019)

Total Fertility Rate from 1850 to 1899

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.^[34]

Years	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	5.22	5.08	4.94	4.8	4.66	4.52	4.38	4.24	4.11	3.97	4.23

Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	4.29	4.29	4.07	4.82	4.64	4.19	4.25	4.48	4.56	4.61

Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	4.49	4.29	4.36	4.6	5.2	4.96	4.74	4.22	4.97	5.05

Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	5.56	5.41	5.74	5.55	5.78	5.65	5.49	5.68	5.44	5.16

Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	5.67	5.23	5.43	5.48	5.67	5.45	5.75	4.92	5.63

Before WWI

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates[34]
1900	6,050,000	235,000	146,000	89,000	38.8	24.2	14.7	5.20
1901	6,120,000	241,000	160,000	81,000	39.3	26.2	13.2	5.27
1902	6,210,000	242,000	172,000	70,000	39.0	27.7	11.3	5.23
1903	6,290,000	252,000	156,000	96,000	40.1	24.8	15.3	5.37
1904	6,390,000	256,000	156,000	100,000	40.1	24.4	15.6	5.37
1905	6,480,000	248,000	160,000	88,000	38.3	24.7	13.6	5.13
1906	6,570,000	262,000	157,000	105,000	39.9	23.9	16.0	5.35
1907	6,680,000	274,000	176,000	98,000	41.1	26.3	14.8	5.51
1908	6,770,000	273,000	185,000	88,000	40.3	27.4	13	5.40
1909	6,860,000	282,000	188,000	94,000	41.1	27.4	13.7	5.51
1910	6,970,000	274,000	173,000	101,000	39.3	24.8	14.5	5.27
1911	7,090,000	300,000	179,000	121,000	42.3	25.3	17.1	5.67
1912	7,240,000	314,000	166,000	148,000	43.4	22.9	20.4	5.82
1913	7,360,000	310,000	192,000	118,000	42.1	26.1	16.0	5.64
1914	7,770,000	327,000	183,000	144,000	42.1	23.5	18.5	5.64
1915	7,910,000	320,000	194,000	126,000	40.5	24.5	15.9	5.43

Years	1916	1917	1918[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	4.84	4.25	3.67

Between WWI and WWII

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates[34]
1919	15,920,000	366,000	328,000	38,000	23.0	20.6	2.4	3.08
1920	16,010,000	539,000	415,000	124,000	33.7	25.9	7.7	4.52
1921	16,240,000	620,000	372,000	248,000	38.2	22.9	15.3	5.12
1922	16,500,000	614,000	376,000	238,000	37.2	22.8	14.4	4.98
1923	16,770,000	609,000	372,000	237,000	36.4	22.1	14.4	4.88
1924	16,990,000	623,000	383,000	240,000	36.7	22.5	14.1	4.92
1925	17,190,000	606,000	362,000	244,000	35.2	21.1	14.1	4.72
1926	17,460,000	608,000	373,000	235,000	34.8	21.4	13.4	4.66
1927	17,690,000	603,000	393,000	210,000	34.1	22.2	11.9	4.57
1928	17,970,000	624,000	352,000	272,000	34.7	19.6	15.1	4.65
1929	17,640,000	601,000	378,000	223,000	34.1	21.4	12.6	4.57
1930	17,870,000	625,000	347,000	278,000	35.0	19.4	15.6	4.69
1931	18,190,000	605,000	379,000	226,000	33.3	20.8	12.4	4.46
1932	18,427,000	662,000	399,000	263,000	35.9	21.7	14.3	4.81
1933	18,653,000	598,000	348,000	250,000	32.1	18.7	13.4	4.30
1934	18,914,000	612,416	390,668	221,748	32.4	20.7	11.7	4.34
1935	19,088,000	585,503	402,720	182,783	30.7	21.1	9.6	4.11
1936	19,319,000	608,906	382,179	226,727	31.5	19.8	11.7	4.22
1937	19,535,000	601,310	377,954	223,356	30.8	19.3	11.4	4.13
1938	19,750,000	585,423	379,445	205,978	29.6	19.2	10.4	3.97
1939	19,934,000	563,817	370,348	193,469	28.3	18.6	9.7	3.79

Years	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945[34]
Total Fertility Rate in Romania	3.55	3.08	2.87	3.14	2.91	2.63

After WWII

Main sources:^{[35][34][36][37]}

Source: National Institute of Statistics^[38]

	Average population (July 1)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Crude migration change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates[fn 1]
1946	15,760,000	391,273	296,439	94,834	24.8	18.8	6.0		3.32
1947	15,860,000	370,562	349,331	21,231	23.4	22.0	1.3	5.0	3.14
1948	15,893,000	379,868	248,238	131,630	23.9	15.6	8.3	−6.2	3.20
1949	16,084,000	444,065	219,881	224,184	27.6	13.7	13.9	−2.1	3.70
1950	16,311,000	426,820	202,010	224,810	26.2	12.4	13.8	0.1	3.14
1951	16,464,000	412,534	210,021	202,513	25.1	12.8	12.3	−3.0	3.01
1952	16,630,000	413,217	195,287	217,930	24.8	11.7	13.1	−3.2	2.97
1953	16,847,000	401,717	194,752	206,965	23.8	11.6	12.3	0.6	2.76
1954	17,040,000	422,346	195,091	227,255	24.8	11.4	13.3	−2.0	2.98
1955	17,325,000	442,864	167,535	275,329	25.6	9.7	15.9	0.6	3.07
1956	17,583,000	425,704	174,847	250,857	24.2	9.9	14.3	0.4	2.89
1957	17,829,000	407,819	181,923	225,896	22.9	10.2	12.7	1.1	2.73
1958	18,056,000	390,500	156,493	234,007	21.6	8.7	13.0	−0.4	2.58
1959	18,226,000	368,007	186,767	181,240	20.2	10.2	9.9	−0,6	2.43
1960	18,403,414	352,241	160,720	191,521	19.1	8.7	10.4	−0.8	2.33
1961	18,566,932	324,859	161,936	162,923	17.5	8.7	8.8	0	2.17
1962	18,680,721	301,985	172,429	129,556	16.2	9.2	6.9	−0.8	2.04
1963	18,813,131	294,886	155,767	139,119	15.7	8.3	7.4	−0.4	2.01
1964	18,927,081	287,383	152,476	134,907	15.2	8.1	7.1	−1.1	1.96
1965	19,027,367	278,362	163,393	114,969	14.6	8.6	6.0	−0.8	1.91
1966	19,140,783	273,678	157,445	116,233	14.3	8.2	6.1	−0.1	1.90
1967	19,284,814	527,764	179,129	348,635	27.4	9.3	18.1	−10.7	3.66
1968	19,720,984	526,091	188,509	337,582	26.7	9.6	17.1	5.1	3.63
1969	20,010,178	465,764	201,225	264,539	23.3	10.1	13.2	1.3	3.19
1970	20,252,541	427,034	193,255	233,779	21.1	9.5	11.5	0.4	2.89
1971	20,469,658	400,146	194,306	205,840	19.5	9.5	10.1	0.6	2.66
1972	20,662,648	389,153	189,793	199,360	18.8	9.2	9.6	−0.3	2.55
1973	20,827,525	378,696	203,559	175,137	18.2	9.8	8.4	−0.5	2.44
1974	21,028,841	427,732	191,286	236,446	20.3	9.1	11.2	−1.7	2.72
1975	21,245,103	418,185	197,538	220,647	19.7	9.3	10.4	−0.2	2.62
1976	21,445,698	417,353	204,873	212,480	19.5	9.6	9.9	−0.6	2.58
1977	21,657,569	423,958	208,685	215,273	19.6	9.6	9.9	−0.2	2.60
1978	21,854,622	416,598	211,846	204,752	19.1	9.7	9.4	−0.4	2.54
1979	22,048,305	410,603	217,509	193,094	18.6	9.9	8.8	0	2.50
1980	22,201,387	398,904	231,876	167,028	18.0	10.4	7.5	−0.6	2.45
1981	22,352,635	381,101	224,635	156,466	17.0	10.0	7.0	−0.2	2.37
1982	22,477,703	344,369	224,120	120,249	15.3	10.0	5.3	0.2	2.17
1983	22,553,074	321,498	233,892	87,606	14.3	10.4	3.9	−0.5	2.00
1984	22,624,505	350,741	233,699	117,042	15.5	10.3	5.2	−2.0	2.19
1985	22,724,836	358,797	246,670	112,127	15.8	10.9	4.9	−0.5	2.26
1986	22,823,479	376,896	242,330	134,566	16.5	10.6	5.9	−1.6	2.39
1987	22,940,430	383,199	254,286	128,913	16.7	11.1	5.6	−0.5	2.42
1988	23,053,552	380,043	253,370	126,673	16.5	11.0	5.5	−0.6	2.31
1989	23,151,564	369,544	247,306	122,238	16.0	10.7	5.3	−1.1	2.19
1990	23,206,720	314,746	247,086	67,660	13.6	10.6	2.9	−0.5	1.83
1991	23,185,084	275,275	251,760	23,515	11.9	10.9	1.0	−1.9	1.56
1992	22,788,969	260,393	263,855	−3,462	11.4	11.6	−0.2	−16.9	1.50
1993	22,755,260	249,994	263,323	−13,329	11.0	11.6	−0.6	−0.9	1.45
1994	22,730,622	246,736	266,101	–19,365	10.9	11.7	−0.9	−0.2	1.42
1995	22,680,951	236,640	271,672	−35,032	10.4	12.0	−1.5	−0.6	1.34
1996	22,607,620	231,348	286,158	−54,810	10.2	12.7	−2.4	−0.8	1.29
1997	22,545,925	236,891	279,315	−42,424	10.5	12.4	−1.9	−0.9	1.31
1998	22,502,803	237,297	269,166	−31,869	10.5	12.0	−1.4	−0.5	1.33
1999	22,458,022	234,600	265,194	−30,594	10.4	11.8	−1.4	-0.6	1.32
2000	22,435,205	234,521	255,820	−21,299	10.5	11.4	−0.9	−0.1	1.32
2001	22,408,393	220,368	259,603	−39,235	9.8	11.6	−1.8	0.6	1.23
2002	21,675,775	210,529	269,666	−59,137	9.7	12.4	−2.7	−30.1	1.26
2003	21,574,365	212,459	266,575	−54,116	9.8	12.4	−2.5	−2.2	1.29
2004	21,451,845	216,261	258,890	−42,629	10.1	12.1	−2.0	−3.7	1.32
2005	21,319,673	221,020	262,101	−41,081	10.4	12.3	−1.9	−4.2	1.38
2006	21,193,749	219,483	258,094	−38,611	10.4	12.2	−1.8	−4.1	1.41
2007	20,882,980	214,728	251,965	−37,237	10.3	12.1	−1.8	−12.9	1.43
2008	20,537,848	221,900	253,202	−31,302	10.8	12.3	−1.5	−15.0	1.58
2009	20,367,437	222,388	257,213	−34,825	10.9	12.6	−1.7	−6.6	1.65
2010	20,246,798	212,199	259,723	−47,524	10.5	12.8	−2.3	−3.6	1.58
2011	20,147,657	196,242	251,439	−55,197	9.7	12.5	−2.7	−2.2	1.46
2012	20,060,182	201,104	255,539	−54,435	10.0	12.7	−2.7	−1.6	1.52
2013	19,988,694	188,599	247,475	−58,876	9.4	12.4	−2.9	−0.6	1.45
2014	19,916,451	198,740	254,965	−56,225	10.0	12.8	−2.8	−0.8	1.55
2015	19,822,250	201,995	262,442	−60,447	10.2	13.2	−3.0	−1.7	1.61
2016	19,706,424	205,773	258,404	−52,631	10.4	13.1	−2.7	−3.2	1.68
2017	19,592,933	210,590	262,321	−51,731	10.7	13.4	−2.6	−3.1	1.77
2018	19,483,840	210,290	264,963	−54,673	10.8	13.6	−2.8	−2.8	1.81
2019	19,394,228	211,175	260,877	−49,702	10.9	13.5	−2.6	−2.0	1.86
2020	19,296,076	206,826	299,524	−92,698	10.7	15.5	−4.8	−0.3	1.80
2021	19,126,302	199,107	336,075	−136,968	10.4	17.6	−7.2	−1.7	1.81
2022	19,052,694	178,233	272,953	−94,720	9.4	14.3	−4.9	1.1	1.71
2023	19,065,215	160,078	244,061	−83,983	8.4	12.8	−4.4	5.1	1.54
2024	19,067,576	148,916	244,735	–95,819	7.8	12.8	−5.0	5.2

Note: The 2011 Romanian census gave a figure of 20,121,641.

The 2021 Romanian census gave a figure of 19,053,815.

Current vital statistics

The current vital statistics of Romania are as follows

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January–May 2024	58,738	103,777	−45,039
January–May 2025	54,604	104,123	−49,519
Difference	−4,134 (−7.03%)	+346 (+ 0.33%)	−4,480
Source:[39]

Total fertility rates by region

2023^[40]

Regions	TFR
Nord-Est	1.76
Centru	1.65
Sud-Est	1.56
Nord-Vest	1.55
Romania	1.54
Sud − Muntenia	1.49
Vest	1.44
Sud-Vest	1.38
București - Ilfov	1.33

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.I.2021) (Provisional Estimates): ^[41]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	9 387 590	9 814 072	19 201 662	100
0–4	521 481	493 753	1 015 234	5.29
5–9	491 575	465 014	956 589	4.98
10–14	542 113	513 007	1 055 120	5.49
15–19	529 720	497 225	1 026 945	5.35
20–24	516 683	488 542	1 005 225	5.24
25–29	521 145	486 568	1 007 713	5.25
30–34	692 834	641 537	1 334 371	6.95
35–39	666 920	624 800	1 291 720	6.73
40–44	773 295	740 280	1 513 575	7.88
45–49	757 067	717 118	1 474 185	7.68
50–54	802 907	770 972	1 573 879	8.20
55–59	502 848	511 124	1 013 972	5.28
60–64	574 456	653 682	1 228 138	6.40
65−69	536 795	676 615	1 213 410	6.32
70−74	403 858	556 959	960 817	5.00
75−79	234 736	370 749	605 485	3.15
80−84	181 168	332 869	514 037	2.68
85−89	92 247	181 016	273 263	1.42
90−94	34 236	68 768	103 004	0.54
95−99	9 544	18 845	28 389	0.15
100+	1 962	4 629	6 591	0.03
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 555 169	1 471 774	3 026 943	15.76
15–64	6 337 875	6 131 848	12 469 723	64.94
65+	1 494 546	2 210 450	3 704 996	19.30

Life expectancy 1950–2020

Life expectancy in Romania since 1932

Life expectancy in Romania since 1960 by gender

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.^[42]

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	61.15
1955–1960	63.287
1960–1965	67.78
1965–1970	67.34
1970–1975	69.02
1975–1980	69.59
1980–1985	69.73
1985–1990	69.52
1990–1995	69.60
1995–2000	69.71
2000–2005	71.47
2005–2010	73.08
2010–2015	74.85
2015–2020	?

Birth rates by counties

Romania has 41 counties and one city with a special status, namely Bucharest. Ilfov County has the highest crude birth rate (12.0‰), while Vâlcea County has the lowest crude birth rate (6.6‰). Birth rates are generally higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.

Crude birth rate by province in 2016 (INS)^[43]

Județ	Total CBR (‰)	Urban (‰)	Rural (‰)
Romania	8.6	8.3	8.9
Alba County	8.0	7.5	8.8
Arad County	8.5	8.1	8.9
Argeș County	8.3	8.2	8.3
Bacău County	8.0	7.5	8.5
Bihor County	9.2	8.6	9.8
Bistrița-Năsăud County	9.7	9.8	9.7
Botoșani County	8.3	8.1	8.4
Brașov County	9.6	8.6	12.6
Brăila County	6.9	6.2	8.4
Bucharest City	8.8	8.8	—
Buzău County	7.6	7.7	7.6
Caraș-Severin County	6.9	6.7	7.3
Călărași County	8.7	8.5	8.9
Cluj County	9.5	9.2	9.9
Constanța County	9.3	8.8	10.4
Covasna County	9.6	8.1	11.2
Dâmbovița County	8.3	7.7	8.6
Dolj County	7.9	7.9	7.9
Galați County	7.4	6.7	8.3
Giurgiu County	8.3	7.2	8.8
Gorj County	7.5	7.9	7.1
Harghita County	9.4	8.4	10.2
Hunedoara County	7.2	7.4	6.7
Ialomița County	8.2	7.8	8.7
Iași County	9.4	9.1	9.7
Ilfov County	12.0	12.3	11.8
Maramureș County	8.7	8.3	9.2
Mehedinți County	7.8	7.6	8.1
Mureș County	9.4	8.2	10.7
Neamț County	7.5	7.0	7.9
Olt County	7.0	7.8	6.5
Prahova County	7.9	7.6	8.2
Satu Mare County	8.6	7.6	9.5
Sălaj County	10.0	10.2	9.9
Sibiu County	9.3	8.4	11.3
Suceava County	10.3	9.6	10.8
Teleorman County	6.8	6.5	6.9
Timiș County	9.4	9.0	10.0
Tulcea County	7.3	7.8	6.8
Vaslui County	8.2	7.5	8.8
Vâlcea County	6.6	7.2	5.9
Vrancea County	8.3	7.9	8.5

Demographics statistics

Population history of Romania (modern borders)

Live births and deaths between 1930 and 2006

Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate since 1950, United Nations estimates

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.^[44]

• One birth every 3 minutes
• One death every 2 minutes
• Net loss of one person every 5 minutes
• One net migrant every 19 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[45]

Population

c. 19,000,000 (January 2023 est.)

Median age

total: 41.6 years. Country comparison to the world: 38th

male: 40.2 years

female: 43 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

8.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 211th

Death rate

12 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 17th

Total fertility rate

1.71 children born/woman (2017) Country comparison to the world: 154th

Net migration rate

−0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 113th

−0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)^[46]

Mother's mean age at first birth

26.7 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate

−0.35% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 219th

−0.127% (2007 estimate).^[46]

Urban–rural ratio

Romania is one of the least urbanised countries in Europe. Just a slight majority, 56.4 percent, lives in urban areas (12,546,212 people in total). The remainder, 43.6 percent, lives in rural areas (9,695,506 people in total).^[47]

urban population: 54% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: −0.38% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15–64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

9.2 deaths/1,000 live births (May 2010);^[48] down from 17.3 deaths/1,000 live births in 2002.^[49]

Life expectancy at birth

• total population: 75.6 years (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 106th
  • male: 72.1 years (2018 est.)
  • female: 79.2 years (2018 est.)
• Total population: 75 years
  • male: 71.4 years
  • female: 78.8 years (2015 est.)^[50]

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

total population: 98.8%

male: 99.1%

female: 98.5% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 14 years

male: 14 years

female: 15 years (2016)

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 20.6%. Country comparison to the world: 62nd

male: 19.9%

female: 21.8% (2016 est.)

Nationality

The noun form is Romanian(s), and the adjectival form is Romanian.

Age structure

Population pyramid of Romania in 2017

0–14 years: 14.31% (male 1,576,621 /female 1,493,082)

15–24 years: 10.45% (male 1,151,312 /female 1,091,956)

25–54 years: 46.11% (male 5,010,272 /female 4,883,090)

55–64 years: 12.37% (male 1,244,669 /female 1,409,854)

65 years and over: 16.76% (male 1,454,320 /female 2,141,940) (2018 est.)

The following demographic statistics are from National Institute of Statistic on 1 July 2016.

• 0–14 years: 14.7% (male 1,678,542/female 1,586,709)
• 15–64 years: 69.5% (male 7,744,863/female 7,687,078)
• 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 1,420,144/female 2,097,659) (2016 est.)

As a consequence of the pro-natalist policies of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime (see Decree 770), Romania has a higher proportion of people born in the late 1960s and 1970s its population than any other Western country except Slovenia. The generations born in 1967 and 1968 were the largest, although fertility remained relatively high until 1990. 8.55% of the Romanian population was born in the period from 1976 to 1980, compared with 6.82% of Americans and 6.33% of Britons.^[51]

Age structure by ethnicity

Population by ethnicity based on age groups, according to the 2011 census:^[52]

Age group	Total population	Romanians	Hungarians	Roma	Ukrainians	Germans	Turks	Others/Undeclared
0–4	1,045,029	766,078	52,158	73,860	2,606	890	2,348	147,089
5–9	1,054,391	804,721	55,477	69,998	3,058	990	2,095	118,052
10–14	1,090,226	861,915	58,081	64,776	3,285	1,072	1,996	99,101
15–19	1,108,453	911,478	59,737	53,768	3,712	1,158	1,651	76,949
20–24	1,366,374	1,119,417	76,714	60,542	3,770	1,488	2,261	102,182
25–29	1,303,077	1,048,482	74,135	49,452	3,545	1,459	2,117	123,887
30–34	1,522,719	1,241,284	90,620	51,267	3,692	1,770	2,452	131,634
35–39	1,538,897	1,283,084	95,034	45,551	3,710	1,999	2,403	107,116
40–44	1,743,878	1,493,176	103,663	39,351	3,530	2,672	2,319	99,167
45–49	1,076,258	924,664	66,469	24,319	3,082	1,933	1,642	54,149
50–54	1,332,266	1,156,851	80,134	25,816	3,259	2,530	1,732	61,944
55–59	1,448,043	1,255,293	94,852	23,064	3,109	3,375	1,554	66,796
60–64	1,244,286	1,084,578	82,353	15,976	2,874	2,523	1,090	54,892
65–69	890,340	766,197	74,709	8,708	2,238	2,796	682	35,010
70–74	901,370	792,445	63,963	7,063	2,190	3,525	560	31,624
75–79	729,965	646,048	48,315	4,803	1,697	2,734	430	25,938
80–84	462,807	407,295	32,265	2,346	1,021	1,947	231	17,702
85+	263,262	229,862	18,944	913	542	1,181	135	11,685

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Romania

Foreign-born population (according to Eurostat):^[53]

	2016	2018	2020
Population total	19,760,585	19,533,481	19,328,838
Total	347,344	510,526	723,913
Moldova	137,406	201,628	302,001
Italy	46,172	60,543	72,473
Spain	35,857	46,645	59,978
Ukraine	14,328	25,644	47,614
United Kingdom	10,428	22,127	34,812
Germany	10,750	20,739	34,071
France	9,262	15,887	21,960
Bulgaria	10,882	10,540	10,029
Hungary	7,151	8,588	9,560
Russia	5,596	7,294	9,308
Turkey	6,769	7,933	9,230
Greece	5,576	6,843	7,829
China	4,235	5,485	6,125
United States	3,634	5,095	5,771
Belgium	1,808	3,120	4,970
Israel	2,121	3,727	4,718
Vietnam	111	642	4,223
Ireland	1,299	2,678	3,829
Austria	1,179	2,054	3,767
Syria	2,833	3,376	3,191
Serbia	1,897	2,484	2,845
Portugal	929	1,771	2,369
Denmark	545	1,105	2,246
Sri Lanka	89	340	2,195
Nepal	18	180	2,136
Netherlands	552	1,220	1,921
Tunisia	1,362	1,652	1,672
India	235	421	1,572
Cyprus	560	1,012	1,508
Iraq	1,701	2,044	1,419
Iran	1,348	1,350	1,410
Norway	477	941	1,375
Sweden	408	898	1,356
Morocco	386	876	1,343
Philippines	169	467	1,206
Switzerland	361	789	1,136
Poland	387	970	1,061
Pakistan	404	437	1,032

Net migration data

Romania net migration

Year	Immigration (Permanent)	Emigration (Permanent)	Net Migration (Permanent)	Temporary Immigration	Temporary Emigration	Net Temporary Migration	Total Net Migration
1991	1,602	44,160	−42,558	–	–	–	−42,558
1992	1,753	31,152	−29,399	–	–	–	−29,399
1993	1,269	18,446	−17,177	–	–	–	−17,177
1994	878	17,146	−16,268	–	–	–	−16,268
1995	4,458	25,675	−21,217	–	–	–	−21,217
1996	2,053	21,526	−19,473	–	–	–	−19,473
1997	6,600	19,945	−13,345	–	–	–	−13,345
1998	11,907	17,536	−5,629	–	–	–	−5,629
1999	10,078	12,594	−2,516	–	–	–	−2,516
2000	11,024	14,753	−3,729	–	–	–	−3,729
2001	10,350	9,921	429	–	–	–	429
2002	6,582	8,154	−1,572	–	–	–	−1,572
2003	3,267	10,673	−7,406	91,726	143,977	−52,251	−59,657
2004	2,987	13,082	−10,095	98,329	194,488	−96,159	−106,254
2005	3,704	10,938	−7,234	91,040	175,297	−84,257	−91,491
2006	7,714	14,197	−6,483	100,537	188,439	−87,902	−94,385
2007	9,575	8,830	745	86,267	544,074	−457,807	−457,062
2008	10,030	8,739	1,291	138,929	302,796	−163,867	−162,576
2009	8,606	10,211	−1,605	135,844	246,626	−110,782	−112,387
2010	7,059	7,906	−847	149,885	197,985	−48,100	−48,947
2011	15,538	18,307	−2,769	147,685	195,551	−47,866	−50,635
2012	21,684	18,001	3,683	167,266	170,186	−2,920	763
2013	23,897	19,056	4,841	153,646	161,755	−8,109	−3,268
2014	36,644	11,251	25,393	136,035	172,871	−36,836	−11,443
2015	23,093	15,235	7,858	132,795	194,718	−61,923	−54,065
2016	27,863	22,807	5,056	137,455	207,578	−70,123	−65,067
2017	50,199	23,156	27,043	177,435	242,193	−64,758	−37,715
2018	65,678	27,229	38,449	172,578	231,661	−59,083	−20,634
2019	64,479	26,775	37,704	202,422	233,736	−31,314	6,390
2020	32,250	21,031	11,219	145,519	186,818	−41,299	−30,080
2021	49,769	34,341	15,428	194,642	216,861	−22,219	−6,791
2022	54,839	48,438	6,401	293,024	202,311	90,713	97,114
2023	29,830	48,612	−18,782	324,091	239,244	84,847	66,065
2023	28,431	51,062	-22,631	-	-	-	-

^[54]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Romania

Distribution of religions in Romania

Distribution of Orthodox in Romania

• Romanian Orthodox — 86.7%
• Roman Catholic — 4.7%
• Protestant Churches (Calvin, Lutheran, Unitarian, Pentecostal, Baptist, Adventist) — 5.3%
• Greek Catholic – Uniate — 0.9%
• Islam — 0.3%
• Atheist — ≈0.04% (9,271 people)
• No religion — 0.1%
• Other religions — 2.0%
• Refused to declare — 0.1%

Religious affiliation tends to follow ethnic lines, with most ethnic Romanians identifying with the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Greek Catholic or Uniate church, reunified with the Orthodox Church by fiat in 1948, was restored after the 1989 revolution. The 2002 census indicates that 0.9% of the population is Greek Catholic, as opposed to about 10% prior to 1948. Roman Catholics, largely ethnic Hungarians and Germans, constitute 4.7% of the population; Calvinists, Baptists (see Baptist Union of Romania and Convention of the Hungarian Baptist Churches of Romania), Pentecostals, and Lutherans make up another 5%. There are smaller numbers of Unitarians, Muslims, and other religions.

See also

• Ageing of Europe
• Population exchange between Bulgaria and Romania
• Immigration to Romania

Notes

1. In fertility rates, 2.1 and above is a stable population and has been marked blue, 2 and below leads to an aging population and the result is that the population decreases.