Demographic transition and economic growth in Romania

In Romania, the phenomenon of demographic transition has been present since the second half of the last century, having certain features also met in the developed countries: the drop in fertility, the increase in life expectancy, the decrease in infant mortality. After 1990, the phenomenon of demographic transition has been emphasized by the effects of society’s transition from the communist model to the market one. Besides the two coordinates which are specific for the demographic transition, the drop of fertility and infant mortality, the demographic behaviour of Romania also presents features encountered only in the countries from the former communist bloc: the increase in mortality and decrease in natality, which have led to a negative natural growth, the registration of a negative migration increment, the decrease in nuptiality. All these have triggered the continuous population decline from one year to another and the accentuation of the phenomenon of demographic ageing. The crisis of demographic transition in Romania has important economic and social consequences, both in the present and in the future. The goal of this paper is to highlight the determinants of demographic transition in Romania and to assess its effects on economic development by means of an econometric model