Record population growth in the European Union. Poland trails the bottom of the table.

The demographic crisis is worsening. 150,000 Poles have vanished from the population in the last year. TVN24

According to Eurostat, last year the European Union experienced a record population rise to 450.4 million individuals, despite there being more deaths than births. This increase is primarily due to heightened migration following the Covid-19 pandemic. Malta exhibited the most significant population growth, while Poland and Estonia experienced the steepest declines.

Since 2012, the number of deaths in the EU has consistently exceeded the number of births each year, leading Eurostat to state that „the population increase is significantly due to higher migration rates post-Covid-19 pandemic,” as reported by Euronews on Friday.

In the last year, the EU saw 4.82 million deaths and 3.56 million births.

Europe's demographic hurdles

This pattern underscores the demographic hurdles confronting Europe, where an aging population and low natural increase rates exert tremendous pressure on social welfare systems and contribute to labor shortages.

The most populous nations in the EU remain Germany, France, and Italy, housing a combined total of 47% of the EU’s population.

The highest population growth was noted in Malta (19 individuals per thousand inhabitants), Ireland (16.3), and Luxembourg (14.7), while the most significant declines were observed in Latvia (-9.9), Hungary (-4.7), and both Poland and Estonia (-3.4).

x.com Expand

Źródło