At an event on demographic trends, held on Tuesday, PM Hristijan Mickoski stated that the country’s population might be below one million in 20 years, as well as that there might be one pensioner per employee, which could mean a collapse of the pension system.
As he stated, even though according to the latest census data, the country has a population of a little over 1.8 million, the number of actual residents currently isn’t over 1.5 million. That’s why, he believes, families with many children should be a priority of politicians.
“I would like to send a clear message to all citizens: forming a family, forming a family where there are many children is the highest patriotic act of a people for its own fatherland. Regardless of religious and ethnic affiliation, a family where there are many children means a future”, he noted.
The five-year programme of the Government and UNFPA on cooperation, investing, and utilisation of human capital, to him, confirms the country has friends and partners in the world.
However, the PM also said responsibility fell to domestic politicians. On the other hand, SDSM immediately responded to his comments by saying that raising more children required money and conditions. The fight, it noted, should be to strengthen the standard, increase salaries, and support young married couples.
“Salaries don’t increase, while citizens face a rampage of prices at stores, but the government does nothing to fix that”, the party’s leader, Venko Filipce stressed.
According to data, the demographic recession in North Macedonia has been constant. In 1950, there were over 50,000 new-borns. However, in 2024, that number stood at 2024. The main reasons for the drop are youth emigration and reduced birth rate, Telma said in its report.