Although the world population has grown by less than a percent (the lowest result since World War II), it can be said that there are fewer and fewer of us. Certainly, this is how you can comment on the research of the European Statistical Office. It is estimated that Europe's population will continue to decline until 2100. This does not give hope for, for example, economic growth.

According to Eurostat, the population of the European Union decreased once again last year, which was influenced by the pandemic and over two million deaths caused by it. According to statistics, the population of 27 countries has decreased by nearly 172,000 compared to the previous year and over 656,000 since January 2020.

"In 2020 and 2021, positive net migration no longer compensated for the negative natural change in the EU, and consequently the total EU population is declining," the study wrote, pointing to the effects of the pandemic. Deaths started to surpass births in the EU ten years ago, but immigration from outside the bloc has helped reduce that gap until the first year of the pandemic.

Last time, the Union saw a population decline in 2011. Taking into account the pandemic, an aging population and a relatively low fertility rate, Eurostat concluded that in the coming years the number of deaths will still exceed the number of births.
While Italy, Poland and Romania saw the largest population decline, more than half of the EU Member States saw population growth, led by France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

According to Eurostat, 446.8 million people live in the European Union (data from January 2022).

Source: Reuters/Wprost Biznes