Census Reveals Childless Island, Aging Population
Demographic shifts over the last decade have left some settlements in Estonia with very few, and in one case absolutely zero, children, data from the latest census reveals.
The areas in question are mainly border villages and small islands, according to census figures released yesterday by Statistics Estonia.
The extreme example is Piirisaare, an island on Lake Peipsi, where the average age of the 53 residents is 63 years. No one 17 or under was living on the island at the time of the census.
The situation isn't much better in Alajõe Parish on the lake's north shore. There only 26 of the 320 inhabitants, about 8 percent, fall into the 0-17 age bracket.
Nationwide, the number of those 65 and older has grown three percent since Estonia's population was last counted in 2000. The biggest elderly-over-young ratio is found in southern Estonia and in various border areas.
Meanwhile, the percentage of the population aged 14 and under has dropped from 18.1 percent in 2000 to 15.4 percent in 2011. Residents of Harju and Tartu counties are the nation's youngest, with respective average ages of 36.3 and 38.1.