On 1 January 2010, the population of the EU27 was estimated at 501.1 million, compared with 499.7 million on 1 January 2009. The population of the EU27 grew by 1.4 million in 2009, an annual rate of 2.7 per 1000 inhabitants, due to a natural increase of 0.5 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.9 million (+1.7‰).

Compared with 2008, the demographic situation in 2009 in the EU27 is characterised by a slight decrease in the crude birth rate and a constant crude death rate, while net migration fell more significantly.

The population of the euro area (EA16) was estimated at 329.5 million on 1 January 2010, compared with 328.6 million on 1 January 2009. The population of the euro area grew by 0.9 million in 2009, an annual rate of +2.7‰, due to a natural increase of 0.3 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.6 million (+1.8‰).

These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Highest birth rates in Ireland, United Kingdom and France, lowest in Germany and Austria

In 2009, 5.4 million children were born in the EU27. The crude birth rate was 10.7 per 1000 inhabitants, slightly down compared with 2008 (10.9‰). The highest birth rates were recorded in Ireland (16.8‰), the United Kingdom (12.8‰), France (12.7‰), Cyprus (12.2‰) and Sweden (12.0‰), and the lowest rates in Germany (7.9‰), Austria (9.1‰), Portugal (9.4‰), Italy (9.5‰), Latvia and Hungary (both 9.6‰).

There were 4.8 million deaths registered in the EU27 in 2009. The crude death rate was 9.7 per 1000 inhabitants, the same as in 2008. The highest death rates were observed in Bulgaria (14.2‰), Latvia (13.3‰), Hungary (13.0‰) and Lithuania (12.6‰), and the lowest rates in Ireland (6.6‰), Cyprus (6.7‰), Luxembourg (7.3‰) and Malta (7.8‰).

Consequently, the highest natural growth of the population was registered in Ireland (+10.2‰), well ahead of Cyprus (+5.5‰), France (+4.3‰), Luxembourg (+4.0‰) and the United Kingdom (+3.7‰). Ten Member States had a negative natural growth, with the largest declines in Bulgaria and Latvia (both -3.6‰), Hungary (-3.4‰) and Germany (-2.3‰).

EU27 population growth in 2009: between -6.2‰ in Lithuania and +17.2‰ in Luxembourg

In 2009, just over 60% of the increase in the EU27 population came from migration. In relative terms, Luxembourg (+13.2‰), Sweden (+6.7‰), Slovenia (+5.8‰), Italy (+5.3‰) and Belgium (+5.1‰) had the largest net inflows, while Ireland (-9.0‰) and Lithuania (-4.6‰) recorded the highest net outflows.

In conclusion, the population increased in nineteen Member States and decreased in eight, with considerable variations between Member States. The largest relative increases were observed in Luxembourg (+17.2‰), Sweden (+9.1‰), Slovenia (+7.2‰), Belgium (+7.1‰) and the United Kingdom (+6.7‰), and the largest decreases in Lithuania (-6.2‰), Latvia (-5.7‰), Bulgaria (-5.6‰) and Germany (-2.5‰).