The EU population grew by 4.4 per 1000 inhabitants in 2008, due to natural population growth of +1.1‰ and net migration of +3.3‰, according to Eurostat figures issued today. In total, the EU27 population is estimated to have increased by 2.2 million in 2008 to 499.7 million.
The highest birth rates were in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Estonia.
Live births in the EU27 were estimated to be 5.4 million in 2008, corresponding to a crude birth rate of 10.8 per 1000 inhabitants. The highest birth rates were for Ireland (18.1%), the United Kingdom (13.0%), France (12.9%), Estonia (12.2%), Sweden (11.9%) and Denmark (11.8%). Germany (8.3%), Malta and Austria (both 9.2%), Bulgaria (9.4%), Italy and Portugal (both 9.6%)..
There were estimated to have been 4.8 million deaths in the EU27 in 2008, corresponding to a crude death rate of 9.7 per 1000 inhabitants. The highest death rates in 2008 were estimated for Bulgaria (14.2‰), Latvia (14.0‰), Lithuania (13.2‰) and Hungary (13.0‰). Ireland (6.1‰) has the lowest rate, followed by Cyprus (6.6‰), Luxembourg (6.9‰) and Malta (7.7‰).
Consequently, the highest natural growth of the population was in Ireland (+12.0 per 1000 inhabitants), well ahead of France (+4.5‰), Luxembourg (+4.3‰), Cyprus (+3.9‰) and the United Kingdom (+3.6‰). Eight Member States had a negative natural growth, with the largest falls in Bulgaria (-4.8‰), Latvia (-3.2‰), Hungary (-3.1‰), Lithuania (-2.6‰) and Germany (-2.0‰).
In 2008, three quarters of the increase in the EU population was estimated to have come from migration. In relative terms, Ireland (+14.1 per 1000 inhabitants), Slovenia (+12.6‰), Luxembourg (+11.9‰), Cyprus (+11.7‰) and Spain (+10.2‰) had the largest net migratory flows, while Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland had more emigration than immigration.
In conclusion, the population is expected to have increased in twenty Member States and decreased in seven, with considerable variations between Member States. The largest relative increases are estimated for Ireland (+26.1‰), Luxembourg (+16.2‰), Cyprus (+15.5‰), Slovenia (+13.5‰) and Spain (+12.5‰), and the largest decreases in Bulgaria (-5.0‰), Lithuania (-4.8‰) and Latvia (-4.3‰).
The figures for Malta show a population of 412,000, a crude birth rate of 9.2%, a crude death rate of 7.7%, a crude natural change rate of 1.5%, crude net migration rate of 4.2% and a total crude change rate of 5.6%.
Population change in the EU Member States, candidate and EFTA countries in 2008
|
|
Population |
Crude birth rate |
Crude death rate |
Crude natural change rate |
Crude net migration rate |
Crude total change rate |
Population |
|
EU27 |
497,455.0 |
10.8 |
9.7 |
1.1 |
3.3 |
4.4 |
499,673.3 |
|
EA15 + Slovakia |
326,921.1 |
10.4 |
9.3 |
1.2 |
4.0 |
5.1 |
328,597.3 |
|
Belgium |
10,666.9 |
11.5 |
9.5 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
6.9 |
10,741.0 |
|
Bulgaria |
7,640.2 |
9.4 |
14.2 |
-4.8 |
-0.2 |
-5.0 |
7,602.1 |
|
Czech Republic |
10,381.1 |
11.3 |
10.1 |
1.2 |
7.7 |
9.0 |
10,474.6 |
|
Denmark |
5,475.8 |
11.8 |
9.9 |
2.0 |
6.0 |
7.9 |
5,519.3 |
|
Germany |
82,217.8 |
8.3 |
10.3 |
-2.0 |
0.1 |
-1.9 |
82,062.2 |
|
Estonia |
1,340.9 |
12.2 |
12.8 |
-0.6 |
0.1 |
-0.4 |
1,340.3 |
|
Ireland |
4,401.3 |
18.1 |
6.1 |
12.0 |
14.1 |
26.1 |
4,517.8 |
|
Greece |
11,213.8 |
9.8 |
9.3 |
0.6 |
3.8 |
4.3 |
11,262.5 |
|
Spain |
45,283.3 |
11.0 |
8.7 |
2.3 |
10.2 |
12.5 |
45,853.0 |
|
France |
63,753.1 |
12.9 |
8.4 |
4.5 |
1.0 |
5.5 |
64,105.1 |
|
Italy |
59,619.3 |
9.6 |
9.8 |
-0.2 |
8.1 |
7.9 |
60,090.4 |
|
Cyprus |
789.3 |
10.4 |
6.6 |
3.9 |
11.7 |
15.5 |
801.6 |
|
Latvia |
2,270.9 |
10.8 |
14.0 |
-3.2 |
-1.1 |
-4.3 |
2,261.1 |
|
Lithuania |
3,366.4 |
10.5 |
13.2 |
-2.6 |
-2.1 |
-4.8 |
3,350.4 |
|
Luxembourg |
483.8 |
11.2 |
6.9 |
4.3 |
11.9 |
16.2 |
491.7 |
|
Hungary |
10,045.4 |
9.9 |
13.0 |
-3.1 |
1.5 |
-1.5 |
10,029.9 |
|
Malta |
410.3 |
9.2 |
7.7 |
1.5 |
4.2 |
5.6 |
412.6 |
|
Netherlands |
16,405.4 |
11.3 |
8.2 |
3.1 |
1.5 |
4.6 |
16,481.1 |
|
Austria |
8,331.9 |
9.2 |
8.8 |
0.4 |
2.6 |
3.0 |
8,356.7 |
|
Poland |
38,115.6 |
10.8 |
10.0 |
0.8 |
-0.4 |
0.4 |
38,130.3 |
|
Portugal |
10,617.6 |
9.6 |
9.7 |
0.0 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
10,631.8 |
|
Romania |
21,528.6 |
10.4 |
11.9 |
-1.5 |
0.1 |
-1.5 |
21,496.7 |
|
Slovenia |
2,025.9 |
10.0 |
9.1 |
0.9 |
12.6 |
13.5 |
2,053.4 |
|
Slovakia |
5,401.0 |
10.4 |
9.8 |
0.6 |
1.2 |
1.9 |
5,411.1 |
|
Finland |
5,300.5 |
11.2 |
9.2 |
1.9 |
2.7 |
4.6 |
5,325.1 |
|
Sweden |
9,182.9 |
11.9 |
9.9 |
2.0 |
6.3 |
8.3 |
9,259.0 |
|
United Kingdom |
61,186.0 |
13.0 |
9.3 |
3.6 |
3.3 |
6.9 |
61,612.3 |
|
Croatia |
4,436.4 |
9.6 |
11.9 |
-2.3 |
1.3 |
-1.0 |
4,432.0 |
|
Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia |
2,045.2 |
11.0 |
9.2 |
1.8 |
0.1 |
1.8 |
2,048.9 |
|
Turkey |
70,586.3 |
: |
: |
: |
: |
: |
: |
|
Iceland |
313.4 |
14.5 |
5.8 |
8.7 |
13.9 |
22.6 |
320.5 |
|
Liechtenstein |
35.4 |
9.6 |
5.9 |
3.8 |
5.6 |
9.4 |
35.7 |
|
Norway |
4,737.2 |
12.6 |
8.7 |
3.9 |
9.6 |
13.5 |
4,801.4 |
|
Switzerland |
7,593.5 |
10.0 |
8.0 |
2.0 |
7.7 |
9.7 |
7,667.7 |
: Data not available