Data extracted: 6 July 2025
Planned article update: July 2026
Highlights
On 1 January 2025, the population of the EU was estimated at 450.4 million inhabitants, 1 070 702 more than the previous year.
The population increased in 2024 in 19 EU countries while it decreased in eight.
Population change by component (annual crude rates), EU, 1990-2024
This article gives an overview of the development of the European Union (EU) population, detailing the two components of population change: natural population change and net migration (which henceforth is meant to include statistical adjustment). More information on migration is provided in an article on EU population diversity by citizenship and country of birth.
EU population shows increase in 2024
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the population of the EU increased again in 2024, from 449.3 million on 1 January 2024 to 450.4 million on 1 January 2025. The negative natural change (more deaths than births) was outnumbered by the positive net migration. The observed population growth can be largely attributed to the increased migratory movements post-COVID-19.
Looking at the bigger picture, the population of the EU grew from 354.5 million in 1960 to 450.4 million on 1 January 2025, an increase of 95.9 million people (Figure 1). The rate of population growth has slowed down gradually in recent decades: for example, the EU population increased, on average, by about 0.9 million people per year during the period 2005–2024, compared with an average increase of around 3.0 million people per year during the 1960s.
The natural change of the EU population was positive – although decreasing – until 2011, and then negative since 2012, with more deaths than births recorded in the EU (Figure 2). The total change after 2011 is therefore due to net migration. While during the COVID-19 pandemic the (positive) net migration no longer compensated for the negative natural change in the EU, since 2022 the trend was reversed and, as a consequence, the EU total population has increased.
In 2024 as in previous years, the number of deaths (4.82 million) continued to outnumber those of live births (3.56 million) in the EU, resulting in the aforementioned negative natural change in the population. The total increase that was recorded in 2024 for the EU population was exclusively due to (positive) net migration. In short, the natural change of the EU population (-1.3 million people) was lower than the net migration (+2.3 million), resulting in an increase in population of almost 1.1 million. Net migration increased in absolute value from +1.2 million in 2021 to +2.3 million in 2024.
Net migration in the EU increased considerably from the mid-1980s onwards and has been the main determinant of population growth since the 1990s (Figure 3). The number of live births decreased progressively between 1960 and 1995, while the number of deaths slowly increased. The gap between live births and deaths in the EU narrowed considerably from 1961 onwards, and the natural change of the population became negative in 2012, when the number of deaths surpassed the number of births. The number of deaths is expected to further increase because of the ageing population, and assuming that fertility rates remain at a relatively low level, the negative natural change (more deaths than births) could thus well continue. Should this be the case, the EU’s overall population decline or growth in the future is likely to depend largely on the contribution made by net migration.
(per 1 000 people)
Source: Eurostat (demo_gind)
Population change at national level
The population of individual EU countries on 1 January 2025 ranged from 0.6 million in Malta to 83.6 million in Germany (Table 1). Germany, France and Italy together comprised almost half (47%) of the total EU population on 1 January 2025.
While the population of the EU as a whole slightly increased during 2024 (growth rate of 2.4 per 1 000 people), the change was not evenly distributed across the EU countries: 19 countries observed an increase in their respective populations, while the population fell in 8 countries. Malta (19.0 per 1000 people), Ireland (16.3) and Luxembourg (14.7) recorded the highest population growth rates in 2024, while Latvia (-9.9), Hungary (-4.7) as well as Poland and Estonia (both -3.4) recorded the highest decreases (Table 2).
Population change can happen in two ways: either by natural change or by net migration. Eight types of population change can be identified, distinguishing growth or decline and the relative weights of natural change and net migration — see Table 3 for the full typology. Looking at the national data during 2024, six EU countries (Ireland, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden) showed a positive natural increase of population. A total of 20 EU countries had negative rates of natural change, with deaths outnumbering births; the largest negative rates of natural change being seen in Latvia (-7.4 per 1 000 people), followed by Bulgaria (-7.3) and Lithuania (-6.4). The only EU country with a zero natural change rate was Denmark. All EU countries except Latvia had positive rates of net migration in 2024, with the highest rates being observed in Malta (18.7 per 1 000 people), Portugal (13.4) and Ireland (12.8).
Source: Eurostat (demo_gind)
Among the 19 EU countries where the population increased in 2024, six countries (Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden) recorded both a natural increase and positive net migration contributing to their population growth. In 13 countries (Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland), positive net migration was the driver of population growth, as natural population change was negative.
Of the 8 EU countries that reported a fall in population during 2024 seven countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) were unable to offset the negative natural change by the effect of positive net migration. Latvia was the only country to observe a negative natural change and negative net migration.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The demographic balance provides an overview of annual demographic developments in the EU countries; statistics on population change are available in absolute figures and as crude rates. The “crude rate of population growth” is the ratio of total population growth during the year to the average population of the area in question that year. The value is expressed per 1 000 people (see Population glossary). Population change — or population growth — in a given year is the difference between the population size on 1 January of the given year and the corresponding level from 1 January of the previous year. It consists of two components: natural change and net migration. “Natural population change” is the difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths. If natural change is positive, then it is often referred to as a natural increase. “Net migration” is the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants. In the context of the annual demographic balance, Eurostat produces net migration figures by taking the difference between total population change and natural change; therefore, this concept is referred to as “net migration plus statistical adjustment”.
Eurostat collects demographic data from the National Statistical Institutes of the EU Member States and also from almost all non-EU Member States in Europe, including EFTA countries, candidate countries and potential candidates. The population figures transmitted by the countries can either be based on data from the most recent census adjusted by the components of population change (live births, deaths, immigration and emigration) produced since the last census, or based on population registers. The estimates of population produced using the demographic components since the last census should then be revised once the census results become available, to revise and rebase the population statistics series for the previous decade. In line with Regulation (EC) No 763/2008 and related implementing acts, Member States and EFTA countries implemented their population and housing censuses in 2021-2022. The population data for the year 2021 and after taking into account the results of the latest population census (held in 2021-2022). Following Eurostat’s recommendations to ensure consistency of statistics over time, several Member States (Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Portugal) have revised their population time series between the reference years of the population and housing censuses held in 2011 and 2021. When the processing of population revisions is ongoing, it may happen that EU aggregates are not fully synchronised with the corresponding sum of countries.
Context
Statistics on population change and the structure of population are increasingly used to support policymaking and to enable the monitoring of demographic behaviour within political, economic, social and cultural contexts. In particular, this concerns demographic developments that focus on a likely reduction in the relative importance of the working-age population and a corresponding increase in the number of older people. These statistics may be used to support a range of different analyses, including studies relating to population ageing and its effects on the sustainability of public finance and welfare, the evaluation of fertility as a background for family policies, or the economic and social impact of demographic change. The EU has been going through a period of demographic and societal change.
More interesting insights can be found in Eurostat’s interactive publication Statistics on Demography of Europe.
Explore further
Other articles
- Population structure and ageing
- EU population diversity by citizenship and country of birth
- Fertility statistics
- Mortality and life expectancy statistics
- Excess mortality statistics
- Migration to and from the EU
- Population statistics at regional level
- Population projections in the EU
- Population and housing census 2021 – overview
Database
Thematic section
Publications
Methodology
- Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (ESMS metadata file — demo_gind_esms)
- Fertility (ESMS metadata file — demo_fer_esms)
- Mortality (ESMS metadata file — demo_mor_esms)
- Population (ESMS metadata file — demo_pop_esms)
- International migration statistics (ESMS metadata file — migr_immi_esms)