Cyprus population down in 2013 due to legal immigrants outflow

Total Cyprus population fell in 2013 due to the outflow of legal immigrants residing in the island, data released by Eurostat on Thursday show.

According to the data the population of Cyprus reached at the end of 2013 858,000 residents compared to 865,9000 one year earlier, down by 7,900 people.

The figure is the result of adding up the balance between births and deaths and taking into account legal immigrants who chose to leave the island.

Births in Cyprus stood in 2013 at a ratio of 10.8 per 1,000 residents compared to 10.0 in the EU. In 2013, a total of 9,300 people were born in the island.

At the same time 5,200 people died, with Cyprus recording the lowest ratio in deaths in the EU with merely 6 per 1,000 compared to an EU average of 9.9.

Cyprus population also recorded the greatest fall in foreign immigrants in the EU, with a ratio of 13.9 per 1,000 residents or 12,000 people. In the entire EU the number of legal immigrants was up by 653,100 people, 437,300 of whom were immigrants who took up residence in Germany.