Malta reported the highest population growth rate in the European Union in 2024, with a growth rate of 19 per 1,000 people, new data from Eurostat has found.
According to the data, other countries to report a high population growth rate last year included Ireland (+16.3 per 1,000) and Luxembourg (+14.7).
Some eight EU countries reported a decline in population last year, with Latvia seeing the biggest drop, of 9.9 per 1,000 people.Other countries to see a decline included Hungary (-4.7), Poland (-3.4) and Estonia (-3.4).
Most populous country in the EU
The most populous country in the EU is Germany, which has a population of around 83.6 million, accounting for 19% of the total population of the bloc.
Along with France (15%) and Italy (13%), that means that three countries account for almost half (47%) of the total EU population.
The EU population stood at 450.4 million on 1 January 2025, just over a million more than the previous year. This was the fourth consecutive year in which the population of the EU increased, and was largely driven by migration, Eurostat noted.
Since 2012, the European Union’s population has experienced a negative natural change – meaning more deaths than births – which has been offset by positive net migration. Read more here.
Population by EU Member State
As of 1 January 2025
| Country | Population |
|---|---|
| Germany | 83,577,140 |
| France | 68,635,943 |
| Italy | 58,934,177 |
| Spain | 49,077,984 |
| Poland | 36,497,495 |
| Romania | 19,036,031 |
| Netherlands | 18,044,027 |
| Belgium | 11,900,123 |
| Czechia | 10,909,500 |
| Portugal | 10,749,635 |
| Sweden | 10,587,710 |
| Greece | 10,409,547 |
| Hungary | 9,539,502 |
| Austria | 9,197,213 |
| Bulgaria | 6,437,360 |
| Denmark | 5,992,734 |
| Finland | 5,635,971 |
| Ireland | 5,439,898 |
| Slovakia | 5,419,451 |
| Croatia | 3,874,350 |
| Lithuania | 2,890,664 |
| Slovenia | 2,130,850 |
| Latvia | 1,856,932 |
| Estonia | 1,369,995 |
| Cyprus | 979,865 |
| Luxembourg | 681,973 |
| Malta | 574,250 |
