In 2018, Cyprus had the fourth largest population increase in the EU 28 per 1000 residents according to figures issued by Eurostat on Wednesday, just before World Population Day (July 11).
Cyprus also had the second lowest crude death rate in the EU, with births outnumbering births by 4.1 per thousand of the population.
Eurostat’s figures show that Cyprus’ population stood at 864,200 on January 1 2018, rising to 875,900 on January 1, 2019 — an increase of 13.4 per 1000 residents and accounting for just 0.2% of the total EU population.
There were 9300 live births and 5800 deaths in Cyprus in 2018, resulting in a natural change of +3600.
The crude rate (the crude rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of events to the average population in a given year. For easier presentation, it is multiplied by 1000; the result is therefore expressed per 1000 residents) was 10.7 for live births and 6.6 for deaths, leading to a natural change of +4.1.
On January 1, 2019, the population of the European Union (EU) was estimated at almost 513.5 million, compared with 512.4 million the same day the previous year.
During 2018, more deaths than births were recorded in the EU (5.3 million deaths and 5.0 million births), meaning that the natural change of the EU population was negative for a second consecutive year.
The population change (positive, with 1.1 million more inhabitants) was therefore due to net migration.
With 83.0 million residents (or 16.2% of the total EU population at January 1, 2019), Germany is the most populated EU Member State, ahead of France (67.0 million, or 13.1%), the United Kingdom (66.6 million, or 13.0%), Italy (60.4 million, or 11.8%), Spain (46.9 million, or 9.1%) and Poland (38.0 million, or 7.4%).
For the remaining Member States, 14 have a share of between 1% and 4% of the EU population and eight a share below 1%.
Population increase in eighteen Member States
During 2018, the population increased in 18 EU Member States and decreased in ten.
The largest population increase was observed in Malta (+36.8 per 1000 residents), ahead of Luxembourg (+19.6‰), Ireland (+15.2‰), Cyprus (+13.4‰), Sweden (+10.8‰), Slovenia (+6.8‰), Belgium (+6.1‰), Spain and the Netherlands (both +5.9‰) and the United Kingdom (+5.6‰).
In contrast, the largest population decrease was recorded in Latvia (-7.5‰), followed by Bulgaria and Croatia (both -7.1‰), Romania (-6.6‰) and Lithuania (-5.3‰).
The population of the entire EU increased by 1.1 million people (+2.1‰) during 2018.
Highest birth rate in Ireland, lowest in Italy
During the year 2018, 5.0 million babies were born in the EU, almost 118,000 fewer than the previous year.
Across Member States, the highest crude birth rates in 2018 were recorded in Ireland (12.5 per 1000 residents), Sweden (11.4‰), France (11.3‰) and the United Kingdom (11.0‰), while the lowest were registered in Italy (7.3‰), Spain (7.9‰), Greece (8.1‰), Portugal (8.5‰), Finland (8.6‰), Bulgaria (8.9‰) and Croatia (9.0‰).
At EU level, the crude birth rate was 9.7 per 1 000 residents.
In the meantime, 5.3 million deaths were registered in the EU in 2018, almost 46,000 more than the previous year. Ireland (6.4 per 1000 residents), Cyprus (6.6‰) and Luxembourg (7.1‰) had in 2018 the lowest crude death rates, followed by Malta (7.6‰), the Netherlands (8.9‰), Spain and Sweden (both 9.1‰).
At the opposite end of the scale, Bulgaria (15.4‰), Latvia (15.0‰), Lithuania (14.1‰), Romania (13.5‰) and Hungary (13.4‰)
recorded the highest.
For the EU as a whole, the crude death rate was 10.4 per 1000 residents.
Consequently, Ireland (with a natural change of its population of +6.1‰) remained in 2018 the Member State where births most outnumbered deaths, ahead of Cyprus (+4.1‰), Luxembourg (+3.2‰), Sweden (+2.3‰), France (+2.2‰), the United Kingdom (+1.7‰) and Malta (+1.6‰).
In contrast, among the 15 EU Member States which registered a negative natural change in 2018, deaths outnumbered births the most in Bulgaria (-6.6‰), followed by Latvia (-4.9‰), Lithuania (-4.1‰), Croatia, Hungary and Romania (all -3.9‰).
The source dataset can be found here.
