The population of the European Union was estimated at 452.0 million on 1 January 2026, an increase of about 706,000 people in one year, according to Eurostat.
This was the fifth consecutive annual increase following the population decline recorded in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Migration and natural change
The EU has recorded more deaths than births each year since 2012. Eurostat says positive net migration has compensated for that negative natural change.
Net migration is the balance between immigration and emigration, including statistical adjustments. It does not describe one legal category and includes people moving for many different reasons.
Growth is not evenly distributed
Population increased in 16 EU countries during 2025. Malta recorded the highest rate of growth, followed by Cyprus and Luxembourg. Latvia, Estonia and Hungary recorded the sharpest rates of decline.
Germany remained the EU's most populous country at 83.5 million. France, Italy, Spain and Poland followed. Together, the five countries accounted for about two-thirds of the EU population.
The longer view
The EU population was 8 million higher than in 2016 and 16 million higher than in 2006. Compared with 1960, it had grown by 97.5 million.
The pace of growth has slowed. Eurostat calculates average annual growth of about 3 million people during the 1960s, compared with about 600,000 per year during the 2010s.
How to read the estimate
Population figures are estimates based on national demographic data supplied to Eurostat. Methods can change. Portugal, for example, revised figures for 2022 to 2025 after moving to annual estimates derived from administrative sources.
The figures show the size of the resident population. They do not by themselves measure integration outcomes, housing demand, labour shortages or the fiscal effect of migration.
Primary record