Hit by COVID-19, EU population shrinks for second year running
The Hindu
According to Eurostat, the population of the 27 countries that make up the bloc has fallen by over 6,56,000 from January 2020.
The European Union's population shrank for a second year running last year, the bloc's statistics office said on Monday, as the region reels from over two million deaths from COVID-19.
According to Eurostat, the population of the 27 countries that make up the bloc fell by close to 1,72,000 from the previous year and over 6,56,000 from January 2020.
"In 2020 and 2021 the positive net migration no longer compensated for the negative natural change in the EU and, as a consequence, the EU total population has been decreasing," it said, pointing to impacts from the pandemic.
The number of deaths began outstripping births in the EU a decade ago, but immigration from outside the bloc helped offset the gap until the first year of the pandemic.
The previous time the EU had registered a fall in population was in 2011 - the only other time since 1960 - but this rapidly picked up due to net migration.
Given the pandemic, an aging population and relatively low fertility rates, Eurostat said deaths should continue to outstrip births in the coming years.
"Should this be the case," it said, "the EU's overall population decline or growth in the future is likely to depend largely on the contribution made by net migration."