Throughout the Common Era, Western Europe's population development fluctuated greatly. The population was very similar at the beginning and end of the first millennium, at around 25 million people. The largest decline in this period occurred in the sixth century, due to the Plague of Justinian, which the source claims to have killed around one third of the continent's population (although recent studies dispute this). Similarly, the population fell by almost 17 million throughout the 14th century, due to the Black Death.

Improvements in agriculture and infrastructure then saw population growth increase once more from the 15th century onwards, before the onset of the demographic transition saw a population boom throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

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, 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.

This scatter chart displays population (people) against male population (people) and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

By 1800, London had grown to be the largest city in Western Europe with just under one million inhabitants. Paris was now the second largest city, with over half a million people, and Naples was the third largest city with 450 thousand people. The only other cities with over two hundred thousand inhabitants at this time were Vienna, Amsterdam and Dublin. Another noticeable development is the inclusion of many more northern cities from a wider variety of countries. The dominance of cities from France and Mediterranean countries was no longer the case, and the dispersal of European populations in 1800 was much closer to how it is today, more than two centuries later.

This bar chart displays population (people) by ISO 3 country code using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

This scatter chart displays access to electricity (% of population) against urban population (people) and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

This dataset is about countries in Western Europe per year, featuring 4 columns: country, date, hospital beds, and urban population. The preview is ordered by date (descending).

In 1500, the largest city was Paris, with an estimated 225 thousand inhabitants, almost double the population of the second-largest city, Naples. As in 1330, Venice and Milan remain the third and fourth largest cities in Western Europe, however Genoa's population almost halved from 1330 until 1500, as it was struck heavily by the bubonic plague in the mid-1300s. In lists prior to this, the largest cities were generally in Spain and Italy, however, as time progressed, the largest populations could be found more often in Italy and France. The year 1500 is around the beginning of what we now consider modern history, a time that saw the birth of many European empires and inter-continental globalization.

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 horizontal bar chart displays female population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

This scatter chart displays urban population (people) against male population (people) and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

The present study is a part of the project HIWED (Historical Indicators of the Western European Democracies; Project leader: Wolfgang Zapf and Peter Flora), funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung. The HIWED main product is a comprehensive data manual on political, social and economic developments in Western Europe for the period between 1815 and 1975.

Peter Flora’s study on the development of religious affiliation (´religious homogeneity or heterogeneity´) in selected Western European countries in a historical perspective is based on statistics from population censuses.The data tables are from the second section (´Cultural Heterogeneity´) of the first issue of the above-mentioned data manual. The United Kingdom has not taken into account in the analysis of the development perspective; there were only one census (1851) with information on the number of meetings in churches and the number of church-goers to a certain date. No systematic information is also available about the Protestant minorities in France, Belgium and Italy.

Data Tables in histat:

Religious affiliation, differentiation of the data tables by countries: A – Tabellen: Deutschland (Germany); B – Tabellen: Skandinavische Länder (Nordic States); C – Tabellen: Niederlande (The Netherlands); D – Tabellen: Schweiz (Switzerland); E – Tabellen: Irland (Italy); F – Tabellen: Österreich (Austria).

This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population.

This scatter chart displays tax revenue (% of GDP) against population (people) and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population.

This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population. This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population. Data from Finland.

This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population. This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population. Data from Austria.

This table aims to show the distribution of welfare of private households, measured by their income, expenditures and wealth. The figures in this table are broken down to different household characteristics.

The population consists of all private households with income on January 1st of the reporting year. In the population for the subject low-income households, both student households and households with income only for a part of the year have been excluded.

Data available from: 2011

Status of the figures: The figures for 2011 to 2016 are final. The figures for 2017 are preliminary.

Changes as of 19 February 2019: Figures for wealth 2016 are finalized. Figures for wealth 2017 are added.

When will new figures be published? New figures will be published in the fall of 2019. The next household budget survey will be held in 2020. New figures on expenditures are expected in 2022.

This line chart displays female population (people) by date and is filtered where the region is Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.