Recent census data revealed: Population has shrunk by 2.6 mln in Romaniak

Romania's population has shrunk by over 2.6 million since 2001, to some 19 million, according to the 2011 census. The country's Statistics Institute recently issued the first data from the census, showing that over 600,000 Romanians were reported as temporarily absent. Over 900,000 people were reported as having left the country for a longer period of time, while a bit over 300,000 were marked as temporarily present. Romania had 21.6 million inhabitants in 2002, when the previous census was organized.

More than half of the population lives in cities and towns – a bit over 10 million, while the rest lives in rural areas – villages. Capital city Bucharest has 1.6 million inhabitants – 8.8 percent of the population. The most crowded counties are Prahova – with 735,000 inhabitants, Iasi – 723,000, Timis – with 649,000, Constanta – with 630,000, Dolj – with 618,000 and Suceava, with 614,000. The smallest county is Tulcea, with 201,000. There are 7.1 million households in Romania, the equivalent of 2.6 people per household. Over 165,000 people were reported to live in joint households or were homeless. In terms of ethnicity, 88.6 percent of the respondents said they are Romanians, while 6.5 percent declared Hungarian ethnicity. Rroma accounted for 3.2 percent of the respondents, according to their statements. Rroma population has a higher proportion in the counties of Mures – 8.8 percent, Calarasi – 8.1 percent, Salaj – 6.9 percent and Bihor – 6.1 percent. For full statistical data, check the National Statistics Institute. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)