Luxembourg, 13/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - According to the first demographic estimates for 2002 published last Friday by Eurostat, the EU had a population of 378.5 million on 1 January 2003. The population of the euro zone is estimated at 305.1 million and that of the 10 countries about to join the EU (applicant countries) at 74.5 million.
Whereas the population increased by 3.6% in the EU in 2002, it fell by 1.8% in the future members. The EU Statistical Office puts this difference down to the variations that exist with regards natural growth (EU: +0.8%, applicant countries: - -1.1%) and also to net migratory movements (EU: +2.7%, 10 applicant countries: -0.7%). Natural population growth in the EU (live births - deaths) was, as forecast, +310,000 in 2002, down compared to the 2001 figures (+370,000), and net migratory movements will probably be down slightly from +1 150 000 in 2001 to +1 030 000 in 2002. In total, the EU's population, according to the estimates, increased by 1 340 000 in 2002. Eurostat considers that this movement is conform to that observed over recent years, but remains modest compared to the growth recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.