In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at 144.8 million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at 87.5 million, Germany at 84.5 million, the United Kingdom at 69.1 million, and France at 66.5 million. Europe is also home to some of the world’s smallest countries, such as the microstates of Liechtenstein and San Marino, with populations of 39,870 and 33,581 respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around 4.2 trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at 3.2 trillion and 2.8 trillion euros respectively. Prior to the mid-2000s, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, Italy, had an economy that was of a similar sized to France and the UK, before diverging growth patterns saw the UK and France become far larger economies than Italy. Moscow and Istanbul the megacities of Europe Two cities on the eastern borders of Europe were Europe’s largest in 2023. The Turkish city of Istanbul, with a population of 15.8 million, and the Russian capital, Moscow, with a population of 12.7 million. Istanbul is arguably the world’s most famous transcontinental city with territory in both Europe and Asia and has been an important center for commerce and culture for over two thousand years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of 11 million, with London being the fourth largest at 9.6 million.

In 2024, Germany was the leading EU country in terms of population, with around 85 million inhabitants. In 2050, approximately 89.2 million people will live in Germany, according to the forecast. See the total EU population figures for more information. The global population The global population is rapidly increasing. Between 1990 and 2015, it increased by around 2 billion people. Furthermore, it is estimated that the global population will have increased by another 1 billion by 2030. Asia is the continent with the largest population, followed by Africa and Europe. In Asia,the two most populous nations worldwide are located, China and India. In 2014, the combined population in China and India alone amounted to more than 2.6 billion people. for comparison, the total population in the whole continent of Europe is at around 741 million people. As of 2014, about 60 percent of the global population was living in Asia, with only approximately 10 percent in Europe and even less in the United States. Europe is the continent with the second-highest life expectancy at birth in the world, only barely surpassed by Northern America. In 2013, the life expectancy at birth in Europe was around 78 years. Stable economies and developing and emerging markets in European countries provide for good living conditions. Seven of the top twenty countries in the world with the largest gross domestic product in 2015 are located in Europe.

In 2020 Germany remained the largest population in the European Union with over 83 million inhabitants. In Germany, France, Spain and Italy most euorpean countries have a larger female then male population. Only in Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Serbia and Sweden consitute men the mayority of inhabitants. Germany was the largest population of both genders in Europe, with 42.1 million females and 41 million males.

In 2023, Ukraine had the fastest growing population in Europe. As a result of Ukrainian citizens who had fled Russia's invasion of the eastern European country in 2022 returning to the country in 2023, Ukraine's population grew by 3.68 percent compared to 2022. Excluding this special case, the European countries which saw the greatest population growth in 2023 were Luxembourg, Norway, and Ireland. Overall, Europe's population declined by 0.09 percent in 2022, with this varying by region from a 0.31 percent decline in eastern Europe to an increase of 0.33 percent in northern Europe. All of the countries which saw the largest declines in their population in 2023 were central and eastern European countries which had hosted large numbers of Ukrainian refugees in 2022. Moldova, one of Ukraine's closest neighbours, saw its population decline by 3.6 percent, while Poland's population declined by 2.2 percent, and Slovakia's by 1.8 percent.

The population of Europe was estimated to be 742.2 million in 2023, an increase of around 2.2 million when compared with 2013. Over 35 years between 1950 and 1985, the population of Europe grew by approximately 157.8 million. But 35 years after 1985 it was estimated to have only increased by around 38.7 million. Since the 1960s, population growth in Europe has fallen quite significantly and was even negative during the mid-1990s. While population growth has increased slightly since the low of -0.07 percent in 1998, the growth rate for 2020 was just 0.04 percent.

Which European country has the biggest population? As of 2021, the population of Russia was estimated to be approximately 145.9 million and was by far Europe's largest country in terms of population, with Turkey being the second-largest at over 85 million. While these two countries both have territory in Europe, however, they are both only partially in Europe, with the majority of their landmasses being in Asia. In terms of countries wholly located on the European continent, Germany had the highest population at 83.9 million, and was followed by the United Kingdom and France at 68.2 million and 65.4 million respectively.

Characteristics of Europe's population There are approximately 386.5 million females in Europe, compared with 361.2 million males, a difference of around 25 million. In 1950, however, the male population has grown faster than the female one, with the male population growing by 104.7 million, and the female one by 93.6 million. As of 2021, the single year of age with the highest population was 34, at 10.7 million, while in the same year there were estimated to be around 136 thousand people aged 100 or over.

In 2024, Italy was the European country with the oldest population, recording a median age of 48.7 years, closely ahead of Bulgaria and Portugal, with 47 years. In general, almost all European countries have a median age above 40 years old. Only Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, and Kosovo had a median age below 35 years old. Kosovo was the youngest territory of the continent in terms of median age.

As of 2023, Germany was the largest country in the European Union in terms of population. The central European country comprised almost one-fifth of the total population of the EU in that year, with France in second place with 15.19 percent, and Italy in third at 13.15 percent. While there are 27 member states of the European Union in total, approximately two-thirds of the population of the bloc is made up by the seven largest countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, and the Netherlands. Of the remaining 20 member states, no country makes up more than 3 percent of the EU's total population, with the smallest country, Malta, comprising just 0.12 percent of the total.

With over 16.4 million foreign persons residing in Germany in 2023, the country had the highest number of foreign-born people living in its territory among the 27 Member States of the European Union. Followed by France with around 8.9 million and Spain at over eight million.

In 2020, Germany had the highest number of over 65's at approximately 18.1 million, which was followed by Italy and France at 13.9 million and 13.7 million inhabitants respectively.

This statistic shows the total population of the European Union from 2010 to 2023. The population is based on data from the most recent census adjusted by the components of population change produced since the last census, or based on population registers. At the beginning of 2023, the total population of the European Union amounted to approximately 448.38 million inhabitants. See figures for the total population by continent here. The global population The global population is rapidly increasing. Between 1990 and 2015, the global population has increased by around 2 billion people, and it is estimated to have increased by another 1 billion people by 2030. Asia is the continent in the world with the largest population, followed by Africa and Europe. Asia has the two most populous nations in the world: China and India. In 2014, the combined population in China and India amounted to more than 2.6 billion people. The total population in Europe is around 741 million people. As of 2014, about 10.2 percent of the global population lived in Europe. Europe is the continent with the second highest life expectancy at birth in the world. Born in 2013, the average European was estimated to live for around 78 years. Stable economies as well as developing and emerging markets in Europe provide for good living conditions for foreign nationals; seven of the top twenty countries in the world with the largest gross domestic product in 2024 are located in Europe.

This graph displays the population of Europe in 2017. Germany had the largest population with a total of 82.52 million inhabitants. This was followed by France and the United Kingdom (UK) at 66.99 million and 65.81 million inhabitants respectively.

This graph displays the total population size of citizens aged from between 20 and 24 years old in Europe in 2018, by country. That year there were roughly 4.6 million inhabitants of this age group in Germany, which was followed by the United Kingdom and France at 4.19 million and 3.73 million inhabitants respectively.

In 2020, Turkey had the highest number of children aged under 15 at approximately 19.2 million, which was followed by the France and Germany at approximately 12.0 million and 11.4 million inhabitants respectively.

This graph displays the total population size of citizens aged from between 15 and 19 years old in Europe in 2018, by country. That year there were 4.14 million inhabitants of this age group in France, which was followed by Germany and the United Kingdom at 4.08 million and 3.68 million inhabitants respectively.

This graph displays the total population size of citizens aged from between 30 and 34 years old in Europe in 2018, by country. That year there were roughly 5.29 million inhabitants of this age group in Germany, which was followed by the United Kingdom and France with approximately 4.44 million and 4.05 million inhabitants respectively.

In 2020, 7.4 percent of the population of Italy were over the age of 80, compared with the European Union average of 5.9 percent. By contrast, just 1.8 percent of the population of Turkey were aged over 80, the lowest share among the provided countries.

This graph displays the total population size of citizens aged from between 40 and 44 years old in Europe in 2018, by country. That year there were roughly 4.79 million inhabitants of this age group in Germany, which was followed by Italy and France with approximately 4.56 million and 4.21 million inhabitants respectively.

In 2024, the population of Europe was estimated to be approximately 6.3 million, with the most common single year of age being 37, at over 10.6 million. By contrast, there were just 176,232 people aged 100 or more in this year.

This graph displays the total population size of citizens aged from between 50 and 54 years old in Europe in 2018, by country. That year there were roughly 6.97 million inhabitants of this age group in Germany, this was followed by Italy and the United Kingdom with approximately 4.91 million and 4.67 million inhabitants respectively.

In Europe, Italy and Romania have the highest percentage of economically inactive population. In Italy, more than one third of all people aged 15 to 64 years were inactive during the third quarter of 2024, while in Romania they added up to 32.9 percent. On the other hand, less than 15 percent of the adult population in Iceland was economically inactive. Economic inactivity means they were neither unemployed not employed.