Prahova County is in full process of demographic ageing - this is the clear conclusion of the statisticians following a recent demographic survey. The data announced by the Prahova County Statistics Department indicate that the statistical weight of the youngsters, compared to the number of senior persons, is considerably lower. Much more severe is the fact that the number of children, those who will become adults in 20 or 30 years, is quite insignificant compared to the number of senior citizens in the County. The statisticians state that the three main causes of the ageing process have an unequal influence.
The first cause is the decrease in birthrate, which is resulted from the low number of young persons and, implicitly, the growth of the old population. The second cause is the influence of the average lifespan growth on the ageing process. Last, but not the least, is the ageing of the population in our County and the phenomenon of local manpower migration abroad.
Tens of thousands less youngsters
A last statistical situation was made at the beginning of 2008 and shows that in Prahova, out of the total 819.600 inhabitants, the number of children with ages comprised between 0 and 15 was barely above a hundred thousand, respectively 116.884 inhabitants in this age group. On the other hand, the number of old persons within the group 60 - 85 was of almost 180.000 inhabitants, more exactly 179.430 senior citizens. Under these circumstances, the statisticians show that, in the long run, the ratio of sustaining the active persons for the inactive ones will be more and more overwhelming in the detriment of the first. Moreover, the same analysis shows the fact that, in Prahova County, women continue to predominate from a numeric point of view, respectively 422.264 women compared to 397.336 men.