Number of pensioners to double and employee base to halve in 50 years in Romania

There will be twice as many Romanians aged over 65 in the next 50 years than today, and the number of those between 20 and 55 will halve during the same period, impacting the labor force and draining the public pension system, according to a new convergence program approved by the Romanian Government, quoted by Mediafax. The document will be sent to the European Commission The low fertility rate will speed up Romania's population aging process, and this will impact the pension system in the next 10 to 20 years, as it will have lower resources compared to expenses, according to the document. The ratio of employees to pensioners is discouraging: 4.2 million employees finance 4.9 million pensioners. Moreover, Romania’s population has shrunk by 2.6 million people over the last 10 years, to some 19 million, according to the 2011 census. editor@romania-insider.com