Defining the “Europeans” is easier said than done. How many are there? Where do they live? What do they do? And, one might even ask, who are the citizens of the European Union? This question, which obviously requires a detailed answer, stems from the data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, providing useful insights into the “form” that European societies are evolving into and the services that public administrations should provide to populations in various areas including healthcare, education, employment, and social security.
Facts and figures. The EU27 has a population of around 460 million. According to Eurostat, the slight population increase is due to rising migratory movements. Germany remains the most populous country with 83 million citizens, followed by France with 68 million and Italy with 59 million — up to the smaller countries of Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Estonia…
The Luxembourg-headquartered Eurostat statistical office clarified: “Population growth can be largely attributed to increased migratory movements and the influx of displaced persons from Ukraine.”
On closer inspection, there are more women than men in Europe. The number of people aged 80 and over is steadily increasing, while the percentage of children under the age of 15 is decreasing (from 16.2% to 14.6% in the period 2004–2024). Another sign of Europe’s ageing population is the rising median age – increasing steadily from 39.3 years in 2004 to 44.7 years in 2024. Italy is the EU member country with the highest median age (48.7 years) and, unsurprisingly, it also has the highest life expectancy alongside Sweden at 84.1 years (compared to the EU average of 81).
Declining birth rates, rising death rates, increasing mean age of first-time mothers and falling fertility rates, as well as other factors, were all confirmed by the statistics.
While the ageing of society is a cause for concern for national Pension Institutions, it also has positive aspects not found in other regions of the world, such as a reduction in infant mortality and an increase in living standards, better lifestyles, education, and advancements in healthcare and medicine.
By contrast, the number of marriages (both civil and religious) is declining. The lowest rates were observed in Slovenia (3.0 marriages per 1,000 persons) and Italy (3.1), while the highest rates were seen in Romania (5.8) and Latvia (5.6).
Another curious detail: in 2023, the proportion of live births outside marriage in the EU stood at 41.1%, and according to Eurostat, at least half of all live births were outside marriage in eight EU countries. The highest shares were observed in Bulgaria, Portugal and France.
It should be noted that the proposed snapshot does not claim to be an accurate and comprehensive representation of the population of the European Union.
Nevertheless, it offers valuable insights into strategies that national and EU policies could adopt to support demographics and enhance quality of life.
These include aid for families with children, support for young couples, long-term measures to encourage childbirth rather than a one-off approach, investment in education, integration initiatives for immigrants, increased spending on essential healthcare and care for the elderly, services for the elderly, stabilisation of pension systems and comprehensive housing policies.
While some national governments are already committed to certain policies (e.g. increasing the birth rate in France and Sweden), awareness is also growing within EU institutions (a housing plan is being drawn up). Nevertheless, politicians must recognise the importance of paying more attention to demographic trends, population composition and the needs of the most disadvantaged social groups and age brackets. The right to citizenship, the protection of fundamental rights and the building of a more just and open society also depend on these factors.
