The European Union’s population has started to increase again after two years of decline, while Cyprus’ has continued to rise, according to Eurostat.
After a decline in population in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU’s population increased in 2022, from 446.7 million on 1 January 2022 to 448.4 mln on 1 January 2023.
Positive net migration outnumbered the negative natural change (more deaths than births).
This population growth is largely attributed to the increased migratory movements post-COVID-19 and the mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine who received temporary protection status in EU countries due to the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Cyprus’ population in 2019 was 875,899 and has continued to increase since to 888,005 in 2020, 896,007 in 2021, and 904,705 in 2022, before rising again to 920,701 by January 2023.
There is no updated Cyprus data regarding the natural change in population (i.e., birth compared to deaths) or net migration.
However, data before and during the pandemic show more births than deaths yearly, plus positive net migration.
Over a longer period, the bloc’s population grew from 354.5 million in 1960 to 448.4 million in 2023, an increase of 93.9 million people.
The population growth rate has slowed gradually in recent decades: for example, the EU population increased, on average, by about 0.8 million per year during 2005–2022 compared with an average increase of around 3.0 million per year during the 1960s.
While the EU population shortly declined in 2020 by around half a million and in 2021 by almost 0.3 million due to COVID-19, it has started to grow again.
The population of individual EU countries on 1 January 2023 ranged from 0.5 million in Malta to 84.4 million in Germany.
Germany, France, and Italy comprised almost half (47%) of the total EU population.
While the EU population increased in 2022, increases were not observed in every Member State.
Seven countries recorded a decrease in population, with the largest decrease reported in Italy (179,419) and the smallest in Slovakia (5,920).
Increases were observed in the other 20 countries, with the largest in Germany (1,121,721) and the smallest in Latvia (7,251).
