Young People Leaving Romania Doubled in Number

The number of young people who permanently leave Romania has increased in the previous ten years, and more and more young Romanians do not trust Romania’s leadership.

A recent study using data from Romania’s National Institute of Statistics, the European Commission’s (Eurostat), and the Barometer of the Youth in Romania 2022 sociological research project is showing that more than 60% of young Romanians think their country is headed in the wrong way and don’t trust the government, parliament, or presidency. More than that, the number of young people who permanently emigrate from Romania has nearly doubled in the past ten years.

According to the study, approximately 16% of Romania’s population, or 3,039,883 young people (15-29 years old), lived in Romania on January 1, 2021. Romania falls below the average for the EU27 (16.3%) despite having one of the highest proportions of young people in the EU in terms of sheer numbers.

The reason for the drastic decline in Romania’s young population of 1.2 million would be the massive emigration in the past ten years alone. Natural growth, which also dropped at this time and hit an all-time low during the COVID-19 epidemic, might be another possible explanation.

Young people’s relationships with the society they live in create concerns about the future direction: only 64% of young people think that Romania is moving in the wrong direction, while 35 think the opposite. Moreover, they have a shallow level of trust in three of the most important institutions for the progress of society: the Parliament, the Government and the Presidency.

Why are young Romanians leaving Romania?

The explanation for this phenomenon has various answers with similar causes. First, Romania is a country where offers and opportunities aren’t on every road. The Romanian government is not helping or supporting the young people. Comparing Romania with other EU countries, the Romanian government is not doing the bare minimum. Besides that, Romania has the highest rate of material deprivation amount young people because they are not supported, especially when it comes to getting into the working field.

Many young Romanians are looking for educational opportunities that Romania’s system cant offer because it is considered outdated and poorly adapted to current needs, so they are applying to universities abroad. Following their studies, they choose permanent residence abroad.

The scenery is repeating over the years. Romania’s resident population decreased by almost 100,000 people in 2019, and now the number doubled. Curious how this doesn’t raise signs of concern, being a continuous flow of emigrants, which leads to numerous other severe problems for a Romania with a future without young people.