A demographic gap appeared in Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain as Eastern European countries have lost a quarter of their population while Western European countries had a positive balance, according to a study of the Austrian Science Academy.

While there aren’t significant differences between the East and West in terms of fertility, migration has split the continent in two, according to the report, cited by local News.ro. The population in the 14 older EU members, which are rich Western countries, increased by 12% from 1990 until 2017, while the population in the 13 newer member states, which are poorer countries from Eastern Europe, declined by 7%, on average.

Almost all of the Eastern European countries recorded a natural demographic decline, as the number of births was lower than the number of deaths. However, migration was the main cause of the population decline, which reached 27% in Latvia, 23% in Lithuania, 22% in Bosnia and Hercegovina, 19% in Bulgaria, 15% in Romania and 12% in Croatia.

Meanwhile, most Western European countries recorded both natural demographic increase and positive migration. Thus, Ireland recorded a 36% population increase, Switzerland – 26%, Spain – 20%, France – 18%, Austria – 15%, Belgium – 14% and Italy - 7%. Germany, the biggest EU country in terms of population, only gained 4% from 1990 until 2017, despite receiving over 1 million asylum seekers since 2015, according to the study.

Romania’s population keeps shrinking in 2017

editor@romania-insider.com