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First demographic estimates
Half a billion inhabitants in the EU27 on
1 January 2009
329 million in the euro area
Reference:  STAT/08/179    Date:  15/12/2008
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STAT/08/179
15 December 2008

First demographic estimates
Half a billion inhabitants in the EU27 on
1 January 2009
329 million in the euro area

According to first demographic estimates published1 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the EU27 will have a population of 499.7 million on 1 January 2009. The population of the new euro area2, including Slovakia, will be 328.6 million on 1 January 2009.

In the EU27 the population grew by 4.4 per 1000 inhabitants in 2008, due to natural population growth of +1.1‰ and net migration of +3.3‰. In total, the EU27 population is estimated to have increased by 2.2 million in 2008.

Highest birth rates in Ireland, United Kingdom, France and Estonia

Live births in the EU27 are estimated to be 5.4 million in 2008, corresponding to a crude birth rate of 10.8 per 1000 inhabitants. The highest birth rates are estimated 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‰) have the lowest rates.

There are 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 are 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 is estimated for 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 have 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‰).

EU27 population growth in 2008: between -5.0‰ in Bulgaria and +26.1‰ in Ireland

In 2008, three quarters of the increase in the EU27 population is 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‰) have the largest net migratory flows, while Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have 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‰).

Population change in the EU Member States, candidate and EFTA countries in 2008
Population 1.1.2008, thousands
Crude birth rate, ‰
Crude death rate, ‰
Crude natural change rate, ‰
Crude net migration rate, ‰
Crude total change rate, ‰
Population 1.1.2009, thousands
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

  1. Eurostat, Data in Focus, 49/2008, "First demographic estimates for 2008", available free of charge in pdf format on the Eurostat web site.
  2. The euro area (EA15) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland. Slovakia will join the euro area on 1 January 2009 and is included in the figures for the euro area.

Issued by: Eurostat Press Office

Louise CORSELLI-NORDBLAD
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
For further information on data:

Giampaolo LANZIERI
Tel: +352-4301-35 336

Eurostat publications on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat