Istanbul, 11 July 2024 – On today’s World Population Day, the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia stressed the need for responses to the demographic shifts countries in the region are facing to be based on sound evidence and human rights.

“The way demographic change is discussed in the region is still too often marked by misconceptions and anxieties,” said Florence Bauer, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The population shifts the region is experiencing are real and their effects require urgent responses, added Ms. Bauer. “But there is no reason to panic: there is a lot governments can do to mitigate negative effects and make full use of the opportunities that also come with demographic change.”

Across Eastern and Southeastern Europe, fertility rates are low, generally between 1.3 and 1.8 children per woman. At the same time, millions of people have left the countries in the region to look for better opportunities elsewhere. Taken together, these trends have accelerated the ageing and, in many cases, shrinking of populations in the region.

Most countries that have smaller populations today than in 1990 are located in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Populations have declined by 30 per cent or more during this period in some countries. With much of the discourse in the region centred around increasing fertility rates, UNFPA warns that this can lead to putting blame and pressure on women and ignoring the underlying factors that hinder family formation and drive outmigration, such as poor education, unaffordable housing, unstable jobs, political instability and corruption.

“This is why the focus on fertility rates can be counterproductive and potentially harmful,” said Ms. Bauer. “It risks distracting from real solutions to demographic challenges and reversing decades of progress on gender equality, reproductive rights and women’s empowerment, with potentially far-reaching negative consequences for countries’ stability and development.” 

While population numbers are important, countries can thrive even when birth rates are low. But this requires sustained investments in human capital and dismantling the many barriers women and other marginalized groups still face in fully participating in the economy and public life.  

UNFPA is working with governments across the region to enhance capacities for tackling demographic change in a comprehensive manner, based on evidence and in line with human rights and gender equality principles. The Demographic Resilience Programme is structured around four pillars: policy, human capital, system reform and public support. A set of frequently asked questions and answers on demographic change in Eastern Europe is available here.

World Population Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly to enhance awareness of population issues and has been marked since 1990.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency. Its mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.