The European Union's population has risen for the second consecutive year, growing from 447.6 million on January 1, 2023, to 449.2 million on January 1, 2024, according to Eurostat data released today. This growth follows declines in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The population increase is primarily due to positive net migration, which outweighed the negative natural change (more deaths than births). A significant factor has been the post-COVID-19 migratory movements and the influx of displaced persons from Ukraine who received temporary protection status in EU countries following the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Long-term data shows that the EU population has grown from 354.5 million in 1960 to 449.2 million in 2024, an increase of 94.7 million people. However, the rate of growth has slowed over the decades, with an average annual increase of about 0.6 million people from 2015 to 2024, compared to 2.9 million per year in the 1960s. The population briefly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since rebounded.
As of January 1, 2024, the population of individual EU countries ranged from 0.6 million in Malta to 83.4 million in Germany. Germany, France, and Italy together made up nearly half (47%) of the total EU population.
Despite the overall growth, seven EU countries saw population decreases between January 2023 and January 2024, with Poland experiencing the largest decline (-132,800 people), followed by Greece (-16,800) and Hungary (-15,100). Meanwhile, Spain (+525,100), Germany (+330,000), and France (+229,000) saw the largest increases.
This report coincides with World Population Day, observed annually on July 11 to raise awareness of global population issues.
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