Macedonia faces population collapse, and will be down to 1.3 million citizens by 2070, estimates a recent report prepared by the Stata Statistics Bureau. The alarming report was presented at the Parliament yesterday. The main reason for this situation is the high level of emigration, followed by the drop in the birth rate.

The report shows that the young active population between 15 and 29 years amounted to over 480,000, or 24 percent of the total population in the 2002 census. In the latest census, held in 2021, this dropped to 326,700 or 18 percent of the total. Over 100,000 people who were in this category in 2002 have left the country and are not registered in the 2021 census. Additionally, 16 percent of all children who were in the category of up to 9 years in 2002 have left the country.