Population crisis in view

The European Commission’s statistical arm, Eurostat, predicts that there will be nearly 850,000 fewer people living in Slovakia in 2060 than today.

On top of the overall decrease, Slovakia is expected to see the number of retired people rise by nearly one million by 2060, coupled with a dramatic drop in the number of children under 14. Should such a scenario materialize, more than a third of Slovakia’s population in 2060 will be over 65.

Businesses are already complaining of a shortage of skilled labor and a critical drop in the number of young people entering skilled trades. Possible solutions include immigration, but to date the Slovak authorities have not investigated it on a larger scale.