8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Eastern Europe

Born in Romania

About 1 in 720 people born in 2023 started life in Romania. A boy can expect to live 72 years and a girl 80, up from 59 and 62 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 720
odds of being born here
183,600 births · Ranked 87th of 230
72 / 80
years of life, boys / girls
Was 59 / 62 in 1950
$11,919
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 75th of 203 · extrapolated
52%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 16 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 130 in every 1,000 births to 5.9.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth72.4 years for boys, 79.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 55.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year257,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles78%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year62 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.71UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.1 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 37 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
14%Second
18%Middle
24%Fourth
37%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $11,919 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth37% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises10.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming12% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed14% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment82% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Bucharest, with 1.9 million people.

52%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Bucharest1.9 million
Iaşi378,954
Constanţa317,832
Cluj-Napoca286,598
Braşov253,200
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Romanian90%
English31%
French12%
Spanish10%
Hungarian7%
Romanian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Bucharest1.9 million
Constanța County452,374
Iași County423,954
Cluj County418,148
Brașov County374,545
Timiș County294,092
Hunedoara County293,370
Mureș County293,088
Dolj291,377
Prahova275,444

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 42 regions
  • Bucharest1.9 million
  • Constanța County452,374
  • Iași County423,954
  • Cluj County418,148
  • Brașov County374,545
  • Timiș County294,092
  • Hunedoara County293,370
  • Mureș County293,088
  • Dolj291,377
  • Prahova275,444
  • Galați County259,005
  • Maramureş208,473
  • Arges202,515
  • Sibiu County202,391
  • Bacău County202,192
  • Bihor County200,666
  • Neamț County190,980
  • Suceava189,253
  • Alba County180,235
  • Arad County169,065
  • Vaslui County159,982
  • Brăila County154,686
  • Buzău County142,007
  • Olt137,921
  • Satu Mare County133,265
  • Caraș-Severin County125,098
  • Botoșani County120,786
  • Vâlcea County113,781
  • Teleorman County111,817
  • Dâmbovița County102,598
  • Gorj County95,864
  • Ialomița County91,186
  • Harghita County90,793
  • Ilfov82,499
  • Vrancea81,826
  • Mehedinți County79,865
  • Bistrița-Năsăud County78,877
  • Covasna County70,147
  • Sălaj County68,080
  • Tulcea County65,624
  • Giurgiu County54,551
  • Călărași County22,624

People on the move

About 24% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Germany, Italy, United Kingdom.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Germany968,697
Italy880,402
United Kingdom713,578
Residents born abroad3.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 24.1% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostGermany (968,697), Italy (880,402), United Kingdom (713,578)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $10.6 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

99% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 10%.

99%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
10%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202468,825Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19504; the deadliest, in 1977, killed about 1,641 people (magnitude 7.5)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence448 between 1989 and 1989UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Romania, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Romania

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences