Migratory flows and their demographic and economic importance in the Romanian regions : an analysis with special reference to the North-East and South-East Regions

The presentation intends to analyse population change in Romania after 1989 in a regional prospective. Absolute population change and the changes in the age structure as well as internal and international migrations are put into relation to the labour market changes. In the last two decades the Romanian regions experienced a decline of fertility and an increase in the share of the working age population. The share of the population 65 years and older is still relatively low. This demographic situation, combined with a weak labour market (low labour force demand) leads to various forms of underemployment of the active population and to high emigration. Romanians are the most numerous EU-immigrants to EU-27 Member States. The demographic and economic importance of these migration flows will be analysed and their mid- and long-term sustainability will be discussed. The demographic outlook for the future decades and the possible consequences for the labour force supply are based on the various scenarios and international and national population projections for Romania at regional level. The steep population decline projected in some of the scenarios could cause considerable challenges for the economic and social situation of the Romanian regions.