January 1, 2009 in 27 EU countries amounted to 499.7 million inhabitants, and the population of the new Eurozone, together with Slovakia – 328.6 million inhabitants.
In 2008, the population of the EU-27 countries grew due to the natural population growth of 1.1% and due to net migration – by 3.3%. In general, in 2008 the population of the EU-27 countries increased by 2.2 million people.
The number of births is 5.4 million, which corresponds to a total birth rate of 10.8 per 1000 inhabitants. The highest birth rates were recorded in Ireland (18.1%), Great Britain (13.0%), France (12.9%), Estonia (12.2%), Sweden (11.9%) and Denmark (11, 8%). The lowest are in Germany (8.3%), Malta and Austria (9.2% each), Bulgaria (9.4%), Italy and Portugal (9.6% each).
In 2008, 4.8 million deaths were registered in the EU-27 countries, which corresponds to an overall mortality rate of 9.7 per 1000 inhabitants. The highest mortality rates in 2008 were recorded in Bulgaria (14.2%), Latvia (14.0%), Lithuania (13.2%) and Hungary (13.0%). The lowest are in Ireland (6.1%), Cyprus (6.6%), Luxembourg (6.9%) and Malta (7.7%).
In 2008, three-quarters of the population growth in EU-27 countries was due to migration. In relative terms, the largest net migration flows were recorded in Ireland (+14.1 per 1000 inhabitants), Slovenia (+ 12.6%), Luxembourg (+ 11.9%), Cyprus (+ 11.7%) and Spain (+ 10.2%). In Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the emigration rate is higher than the immigration level.
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