The negative natural increase in Montenegro will continue and will threaten our basic biological future. That's why we have to take measures at the municipal and state level, through which we will help young married couples, families with children, families who cannot have children due to health reasons. We need to establish policies that will encourage the recovery of society when it comes to demography and natural growth, a professor at the University of Montenegro told "Vijesti" yesterday. Miroslav Doderović.
The average age of the Montenegrin population is 39,7 years, and, as the results of last year's census showed, the deepest demographic age - the population is older than 43 years - was recorded in as many as nine municipalities. For the sake of comparison, only one municipality - Plužine, had such a demographic picture in the 2011 census.
Deep demographic age (the average age of the population is between 40 and 43) was recorded in eight municipalities. Demographic age was recorded in the remaining eight municipalities - the average age of the population is from 35 to 39 years.
"It is an absolute problem when it comes to Montenegro, it means that the birth rate is declining, that young people have the desire to leave their country of residence and their country to a large extent," the head of the sociology study program at the Faculty of Philosophy told "Vijesta" to the faculty of UCG Vladimir Bakrač.
According to him, the demographic problem in most countries of the world is the age of the population, but the population census in Montenegro also showed that.
Bakrač points out that he would describe the results of the last census with the sentence: "'There are so many of us that we are gone', or 'There are so many of us that there are few of us'".
"We are faced with the data that in 2011 only one municipality had the status of deep old age, namely Plužine. Today, nine municipalities already fall into that category, which is very alarming. The state should dedicate itself to solving that issue to the extent that it is possible", says Bakrač.
According to him, the latest population census shows another fact - the reduced number of inhabitants in Montenegro.
"A deeper and thorough analysis will show some more results that we cannot analyze now on the basis of raw data, but if it did not decrease, the number of inhabitants in Montenegro did not increase either, which is also alarming. If we add to that the fact that a large number of the 620.000 inhabitants are foreigners who are demographically mobile, they are in Montenegro today, and the question is whether they will be in Montenegro by the next census, maybe even earlier, let alone by the next census ", he said.
According to him, the latest census data are "quite worrying and alarming".
"And I think that the state needs to pay much more attention to all that data. That's what the population census is for, to give us some picture of the direction and direction the population is moving in a country, whether it's about social, economic, or social status," he said.
Professor Doderović emphasizes that everything points to the fact that "we are in a serious demographic crisis".
"The population is quite old, since the last census the results have deteriorated, the young population is moving out. The part of the population that is in the best reproductive years is leaving and the demographic situation will further deteriorate in the following years. As a result of this deterioration, people will continue to move out, and the natural increase will constantly decrease," emphasizes Professor Doderović.
Professor Doderović recently, before announcing the results of the census, warned that the number of inhabitants in the cities in the north of the country is constantly decreasing and that this is the key demographic and development problem of Montenegro.
"While the public often talks about migration from villages to cities, the bigger problem is the fewer and fewer residents in the so-called medium-sized municipalities," he said.
Doderović then told "Vijesta" that Montenegro urgently needed measures that would reduce the intensity of emigration.
"They should be aimed at the population group that is most interesting to us, namely young people. When they finish their education, they should get a suitable job, which is also adequately paid. Pupils and students should be directed to acquire those skills and abilities that are needed in future occupations for which they are well paid. This means that every economic sector in Montenegro annually loses a huge number of young people, their strength, skills, creativity and talents, which are necessary for the advancement of the entire sector. Young people are the easiest to adapt to changes, the introduction of new technologies and the like, which is a real flywheel for increased productivity".
Doderović is of the opinion that local authorities have neither the capacity nor the quality to prevent migration and the departure of young people.
"Young people in Montenegro live with their parents the longest in Europe - they become independent when they are not so young anymore - at 32 and a half years old. After graduating from university, a young person wants to establish himself in a professional sense, with a decently paid job, all in order to gain financial independence, which is the main prerequisite for bigger steps in life," Doderović emphasized.
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