Brussels, 26/08/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat projections, published on Tuesday 26 August, the population of the EU27 is will increase from 495 million on 1 January 2008 to 521 million in 2035, before thereafter gradually declining to 506 million in 2060. The annual number of births is projected to fall over the period 2008-2060. At the same time the annual number of deaths is projected to continue to rise. From 2015 onwards deaths are expected to outnumber births, and, hence, population growth due to natural increase would cease. From this point onwards, positive net migration would be the only population growth factor. However, from 2035, this positive net migration would no longer counterbalance the negative natural change, and the population is projected to begin to fall.
The EU27 population is projected to continue to grow older, with the percentage of the population aged 65 years and over rising from 17.1% in 2008 to 30.0% in 2060, and those aged 80 and over rising from 4.4% to 12.1% over the same period. The strongest population growth is projected to be found in Cyprus (66%), Ireland (53%), Luxembourg (52%), the United Kingdom (25%) and Sweden (18%), and the sharpest declines in Bulgaria (28%), Latvia (26%), Lithuania (24%), Romania (21%) and Poland (18%). In 2060, the Member States with the largest populations are expected to be the United Kingdom (77 million), France (72 million), Germany (71 million), Italy (59 million) and Spain (52 million).
30% of the EU27 population to be aged 65 or more in 2060. By 2060, the percentage of the population aged 65 or more is projected to range from 23.6% in Luxembourg, 24.7% in the United Kingdom and 25.0% in Denmark to 36.2% in Poland, 36.1% in Slovakia and 35.0% in Romania. Consequently, the old age dependency ratio in the EU27, i.e. the population aged 65 years and older divided by the working age population, is projected to increase from 25% in 2008 to 53% in 2060. (L.C./transl.rt)