We hear a lot about immigration and the difficulties it presents from politicians seeking votes. But of greater concern in some countries is the flight of citizens abroad from countries like Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Spain, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Romania:  An estimated 3.4 million Romanians left the country in the decade after EU accession.  Among these are 43,000 (!) doctors . The Romanian population is slated to fall by 22% by 2050.  High mortality and a low birthrate are both contributing.

Italy:  Facing an unprecedented drop in population to 55 million.  From 2014 to 2018 the number of Italians fell by 677,000.  Nearly 157,000 left the country in 2018 alone. The population is forecast to drop further in the next five years.  After Japan it has the greatest proportion of old people in the world (168.7 people over 65 for every 100 young people).  The fewer the number of people the worse the services become, not encouraging for foreigners thinking of buying a romantic Italian vacation home. 

Spain :  The bulk of the population, 42 million, is crammed into cities and towns accounting for 30% of the land, the population density of the rest of the country being only 14 inhabitants per square kilometer.  80% of the municipalities have falling populations.  This figure rises to 90% for towns and villages with populations less than 1000. ( From The Guardian, 6 Sept 2019)

My comment: The only country with which I am a bit familiar is beautiful Italy.  Beautiful  it might be, but it is notoriously badly governed and, in part, corrupt.  I was once advised, when chatting about owning property there not on any account to do so, owing to the cost, the bureaucracy and “other” problems.  Sad. Romania, of course, is  maybe even worse, given its history.