The population of Europe was estimated to be 745 million in 2024, an increase of around 4 million when compared with 2012. 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 2024, the population of Russia was estimated to be approximately 144.8 million and was by far Europe's largest country in terms of population, with Turkey being the second-largest at over 87 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 84.5 million, and was followed by the United Kingdom and France at 69.1 million and 66.5 million respectively. Characteristics of Europe's population There are approximately 384.6 million females in Europe, compared with 359.5 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 2024, the single year of age with the highest population was 37, at 10.6 million, while in the same year there were estimated to be around 136 thousand people aged 100 or over.

The European countries which saw the greatest population growth in 2025 were Gibraltar, Kosovo and Iceland. Overall, Europe's population declined by 3.3 percent in 2025, with this varying by region from a 0.19 percent decline in northern Europe to 4.6 percent in southern Europe. All the countries which saw the largest declines in their population in 2025 were central and eastern European countries.

The population of Europe is expected to fall from ***** million in 2023 to just ***** million people by 2100, in the medium-variant scenario provided in this projection. In the scenario where the population declines even further, the population of Europe may fall to as low as ***** million by 2100, while in the high-variant projection, the population will increase to approximately ***** million.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Developing Countries in Europe and Central Asia (SPPOPGROWECA) from 1961 to 2024 about Central Asia, Europe, population, and rate.

Population growth (annual %) in European Union was reported at 0.16884 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. European Union - Population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth: All Income Levels for Europe and Central Asia (SPPOPGROWECS) from 1961 to 2024 about Central Asia, Europe, income, population, and rate.

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.

The number of persons having their usual residence in a country on 1 January of the respective year. When usually resident population is not available, countries may report legal or registered residents.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for the Euro Area (SPPOPGROWEMU) from 1961 to 2024 about Euro Area, Europe, population, and rate.

In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at ***** million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at **** million, Germany at **** million, the United Kingdom at **** million, and France at **** 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 ****** and ****** respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around *** trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at *** trillion and *** 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 2,000 years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of ** million, with London being the fourth largest at *** million.

Eurostat’s annual data collections on population are structured as follows:

POPSTAT Population statistics data collection: The most in-depth annual national and regional demographic and migration data collection. The data relate to populations, births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages and divorces, and is broken down into several categories (Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 862/2007).

URESPOP Usually resident population: Usually resident population for the purpose of the qualified majority voting.
Formore specific information, please see the metadata on Usually resident population (Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013).

Member States send population data to Eurostat data as on of 31 December for the reference year under http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R1260&from=EN" target="_blank">Regulation 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics. The data are conventionally published by Eurostat as population on 1 January of the following year (reference year + 1).

The aim is to collect annual mandatory and voluntary demographic data from the national statistical institutes. Mandatory data are those defined by the legislation listed under ‘6.1. Institutional mandate — legal acts and other agreements’.

The completeness of the demographic data collected on a voluntary basis depends on the availability and completeness of information provided by the national statistical institutes.

For more information on mandatory/voluntary data collection, see 6.1. Institutional mandate — legal acts and other agreements.

The following statistics are available.

Population on 1 January by sex and by:

• single age and educational attainment / marital status / broad group of citizenship / broad group of country of birth;
• five-year age group and citizenship / country of birth;
• citizenship and broad group of country of birth / country of birth and broad group of citizenship;
• broad age group and NUTS 3 (under regional data population folder);
• single age and NUTS 2 (under regional data population folder);
• five-year age group and NUTS 2 / NUTS 3 (under regional data population folder).

Population structure statistics: median age of population, proportion of population by various age groups, old age dependency ratio.

Graph and download economic data for Working Age Population: Aged 15-24: All Persons for the European Union (LFWA24TTEUQ647S) from Q1 2005 to Q4 2019 about EU, working-age, 15 to 24 years, Europe, and population.

The purpose of this data package is to offer essential population statistics about European countries covering static and dynamic demographical indicators. The two current sources of information are the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), from Austria and the U.K. Office for National Statistics.

These summary metadata refer to the first results on the main demographic developments in the year of reference.

Member States send to Eurostat the first results on the main demographic developments in the year of reference (T), containing the total population figure on 31 December of year T (further published by Eurostat as Population on 1 January of year T+1), total births and total deaths during year T. This data collection is defined under http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R1260&from=EN" target="_blank">Regulation 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics. Countries may also transmit to Eurostat, on voluntary basis, provisional data on total immigration, emigration and net migration during the year (T).

Eurostat's data collection on the above figures is called DEMOBAL and it is carried out in June of each year. Eurostat publishes these first demographic estimates in July of each year in the online database, in the table Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates (demo_gind).

These first demographic estimates may either be confirmed or updated by Eurostat's demographic data collection taking place in December each year (called Unidemo), whereby countries submit detailed breakdowns (e.g. by age and sex) of their yearly population data, including data on migration, both at national and at regional level. The online table Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates (demo-gind) will be accordingly updated. This table includes the latest updates on total population, births and deaths reported by the countries, while the detailed breakdowns by various characteristics included in the rest of the tables of the Eurostat database (Demography domain and Migration, for example the Population by citizenship and by country of birth table) may be transmitted to Eurostat at a subsequent date.

The online table Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates (demo-gind) contains time series going back to 1960; data before 2013 were collected by Eurostat from the national statistical offices on voluntary basis.

The individual metadata files reported by the countries are attached to this metadata file.

Population Growth for the European Union was 0.21365 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population Growth for the European Union reached a record high of 1.26548 in January of 1960 and a record low of -0.24336 in January of 2021. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population Growth for the European Union - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on October of 2025.

Please contact author emma.terama@environment.fi for updated article:Terama, E. et al. 2017. Modelling population structure in the context of urban land use change in Europe. Regional Environmental Change (submitted).

And cite the accompanied data as:

Terama, E. 2016. European regional - NUTS2-level - population projections with age structure across SSPs. Database. https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3806478.v1Age groups (6)

AG1: ages 0...14

AG2: ages 15...29

AG3: ages 30...49

AG4: ages 50...64

AG5: ages 65...74

AG6: ages 75+

Population is given in thousands.

View yearly updates and historical trends for Western Europe Population Outlook. Source: International Monetary Fund. Track economic data with YCharts ana…

Spain - Population as a % of EU population was 10.80% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Spain - Population as a % of EU population - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, Spain - Population as a % of EU population reached a record high of 10.80% in December of 2024 and a record low of 10.50% in December of 2019.

Portugal - Population as a % of EU population was 2.40% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Portugal - Population as a % of EU population - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, Portugal - Population as a % of EU population reached a record high of 2.40% in December of 2024 and a record low of 2.30% in December of 2023.

Population Growth: All Income Levels for Europe and Central Asia was -0.04490 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population Growth: All Income Levels for Europe and Central Asia reached a record high of 1.39388 in January of 1960 and a record low of -0.04490 in January of 2023. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population Growth: All Income Levels for Europe and Central Asia - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.