The total population will decrease by 2100 in 18 EU countries, including Romania, according to the latest population estimates published on Thursday by Eurostat, cited by Agerpres.
According to Eurostat, Romania's population would decrease by approximately a quarter (24.3%), from 19.04 million inhabitants on January 1, 2025, to 14.40 million on January 1, 2100.
Over the same period, the EU population is expected to decrease by 11.7%, or 53 million people, from 451.8 million people in 2025 to 398.8 million people in 2100.
The biggest decreases, of more than 30%, are predicted for Poland (-31.6%), Lithuania (-33.4%) and Latvia (-33.9%).
According to Eurostat, the EU population returned to an upward trend in 2022 after the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, and is expected to continue to grow over the next three years, reaching a peak of 453.3 million in 2029, after which it will gradually decline to 398.8 million by 2100.
Among member states, Germany will remain the largest country in 2100, despite a projected decline from 83.6 million inhabitants in 2025 to 74.7 million in 2100.
Next will be France, with a total of 67.2 million inhabitants in 2100 (down from 68.8 million in 2025) and Spain, whose population is expected to grow from 49.1 million to 49.8 million.
On the other hand, Malta and Luxembourg would remain the least populated countries, with both populations forecast to remain below the one million mark.
An aging population
According to Eurostat, between 2025 and 2100, the share of children, young people and people of working age in the total EU population will decrease. Thus, it is expected that the share of children and young people (between the ages of 0 and 19) will decrease from 20% to 17%, while the share of people of working age (between 20 and 64) will decrease from 58% to 50% by 2100.
The median age of the EU population is expected to increase by 6.6 years between 2025 and 2100, with the number of people aged 65 and over in the EU expected to double by 2100.
The share of older people (65 and over) in the total EU population is expected to increase from 12.4% (67.9 million) at the beginning of 2025 to 33.6% (133.8 million) in 2100.
With the EU's population declining until 2100, it is the only major demographic age group projected to grow significantly, both in relative and absolute terms, indicating an acceleration of population ageing.
Eurostat is the body of the European Commission that deals with statistics.
