The EU is – quite literally – dying off, according to latest official figures

UK’s population is still increasing while EU’s decreases for second year running

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2022

Facts4EU.Org analyses the latest population figures for the EU and UK

The latest EU population figures reveal a disturbing trend for the EU. Even with net immigration boosting the numbers by 1.9m in the last two years, the EU’s population has decreased for the second year running.

In this report Facts4EU.Org looks at the total change in the EU’s population in the last five years, as well as the dramatic decreases in the population of some EU countries.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Changes in the EU’s population in the last five years

1.  Overall change in EU population

  • 2017 : 511,930,353
  • 2018 : 513,115,699
  • 2019 : 513,858,582
  • 2020 : 447,346,360
  • 2021 : 446,914,676

[Source: Latest EU official data, released 11 July 2022.]

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2022 - click to enlarge

2.  Overall change in EU27 (taking out the effect of the UK leaving)

  • 2017 : +674,127
  • 2018 : +893,595
  • 2019 : +925,952
  • 2020 : -277,742
  • 2021 : -171,745

[Source: Latest EU official data, released 11 July 2022.]

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2022 - click to enlarge

3.  EU countries with the greatest decreases in the last five years

  1. Italy : -1,063,450
  2. Romania : -605,851
  3. Poland : -318,717
  4. Croatia : -275,139
  5. Bulgaria : -262,922

4.  EU countries with the highest increases in the last five years

  1. France : +1,032,766
  2. Spain : +904,781
  3. Germany : +715,471
  4. Netherlands : +509,165
  5. Sweden : +457,173

The redistribution of the EU countries’ populations

On the face of it, it would seem that the poorer countries of the EU - as well as its third-largest economy Italy which has been going through a certain amount of economic turmoil – have seen significant proportions of their populations move to the richer EU nations and to the UK.

Prior to 2021, the United Kingdom saw over six million applications for residency from EU citizens. This was almost double the number claimed by the EU and by the Cameron government prior to the 2016 Referendum.

Observations

Population statistics are complex and are never definitive. No government ever truly knows how many people it has in its country. This is never more true than in the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless the statistics in our report above are indicative of a trend. No matter the reasons – and despite the 1.9 million immigrants the EU has logged in 2020 and 2021 - the EU’s population is shrinking.

For years Facts4EU.Org argued that the number of EU citizens who had migrated from the EU to the UK were being severely understated. We published reports on the number of HMRC National Insurance numbers being issued to EU nationals, which far exceeded the number of EU nationals being estimated by the EU and by the Home Office.

We were right to publish what we did and no-one has ever been able to prove us wrong.

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[ Sources: EU Commission | ONS ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 24 July 2022

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