News about Demographics

Elon Musk drew attention to the demographic situation in the European Union, noting the threat of extinction facing Western nations amid declining birth rates. The entrepreneur commented on UN statistics showing a decline in the fertility rate in the world’s largest economies since 1950 and a decrease in the population of Western nations.

The 2030 census in Moldova will be conducted using AI and digital “signs of life.” The official statistics agency plans to use government registries, databases, and digital traces instead of the traditional door-to-door canvass. Citizens will be able to verify their own data online. The UN is providing these recommendations to national agencies in preparation for the next round of the global census.

While Moldova’s population continues to decline, the size of the government bureaucracy, on the contrary, is growing. Economic expert Tatiana Iovv reported this on her social media page.

According to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the infant mortality rate in 2025 declined significantly. The decline in infant mortality, along with an overall reduction in the number of deaths in the country (to 13.5 per 1,000 inhabitants), was one of the key factors contributing to the increase in life expectancy in Moldova, which, by the end of 2025, had risen by nearly 10 months to 72.8 years.

In 60 of the world’s 197 countries, the proportion of the population living in rural areas exceeds that of the urban population. Moldova is among them; 56.4% of its residents live outside cities.

Ukraine has taken another step toward post-war recovery by signing 160 agreements worth over 10 billion euros at the Conference on Ukraine’s Recovery in Gdańsk, Poland. However, EU officials acknowledge that even large-scale investments will not yield the expected results unless the labor shortage is addressed.

In Moldova, internal migration is actively underway. Rural residents are moving to cities, causing many small villages to become depopulated and lose their demographic potential. In 2025, internal migration led to an increase of 5,1 thousand people in the population of urban areas, at the expense of rural areas.

The Commission on Human Rights and Interethnic Relations is calling on the government to make combating population outflow its top priority, given the critical demographic situation in the country.

Moldova has 2,365.6 thousand permanent residents as of January 1, 2026, having “lost” about 22.9 thousand (1%) of the country’s population during the year. Preliminary data is published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The annual loss remains tangible, but there is also some slowdown in depopulation processes. This conclusion should, obviously, follow after comparing the figures of loss in 2005 (-22.9 thousand) and in 2024 (-27 thousand), which the NBS draws attention to in the beginning of the official publication.

The number of children in Moldova (from 0 to 17 years old) in 2025 amounted to 553 thousand people, or 23.2% of the population. At the same time, the birth rate continues to decline: during 2025, 22.1 thousand newborn children were registered, which is 6.6% less than a year earlier.

Switzerland will hold a national referendum on June 14 on an initiative to cap the country’s permanent population at 10 million by 2050.

For several years now, a significant part of Chinese youth, disillusioned with their economic prospects, has been adhering to the principle of “lying down”, i.e. refusing in principle to engage in career competition (the notorious “rat race”).

Demographic research should go beyond mere statistical analysis of birth and death rates and focus on identifying factors affecting the health and life expectancy of the population. This statement was made by Academician Ewa Gudumak, surgeon, renowned pediatrician and medical scientist, at a round table dedicated to the anniversary of the Center for Demographic Research named after Academician Georgi Paladi.

The forthcoming reform of local public authorities continues to agitate the villages. On Sunday, May 17 this year, a general meeting of the village was held in Petresti commune, Ungheni district. Two important topics were discussed: the results of the 2024 census and the initiative of voluntary unification.

The spread of smartphones and mobile Internet has become one of the reasons for the sharp decline in birth rates in many countries of the world. This is the conclusion reached by American researchers.

This was stated by Dumitru Roibu, chairman of the “Alliance of Moldovans” party, on the air of a national TV channel, commenting on the local self-government reform carried out by the authorities and on the process of merging mayoralties.

Over the past five years, Moldova has experienced the largest population decline in its history, both in absolute and relative terms.

The period from 2026 to 2035 has been declared the “Decade of Family and Demography” in Turkey.

The number of newborns in Moldova continues to steadily decline, and this is increasingly affecting the health care system.

In the first 100 days of 2026, Moldova’s population decreased by 7,821 people, of whom 4,554 emigrated permanently.