In this article you will learn all about population, what it is, how we calculate it, how we sort the population by age group in a certain year and you will find out how the population is developing, ageing and much more.
Population statistics record the number of people living in a country or region together with key life events such as births and deaths, marriages and divorces. These statistics can be used to track demographic trends. We can see whether the population is rising or falling, as well as analyse the different indicators like the fertility rate, the death rate, life expectancy and much more.
Why do we need population statistics?
Population statistics are possibly the oldest form of official statistics, with censuses being held in ancient civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Rome. Although clearly things are done differently now, the need to know about the number of people and the structure of the population remains. This is an area of statistics that is changing rapidly but where there is a lot of history to live up to!
It is essential for governments and public services to know how many people currently live in a country and how many are expected to live there in the future. With this important information they can plan and make better decisions about the building of schools, hospitals or roads for example.
Governments also need to know other demographic data, for example, how old the population is now and how this will develop in the future to plan for pensions or health care.
Further more, population statistics are used for analysing economic and social indicators, such as GDP per capita. By doing so, it is easier to understand how well countries are performing regardless of their population size.
How do we calculate population?
The population of a given area is the number of people living there. This is normally measured on 1 January every year.
Traditionally, countries would conduct a population census, usually carried out once every 10 years, to count the number of people living in the country and its regions. These census figures were then updated each year using administrative data that kept track of births, deaths and changes of residence. However, a census is generally no longer the main source for gathering information on the population in a given area.
More and more, countries use data from population registers or similar administrative data sources to count the number of people living in an area of the country. This approach is now used in many EU countries, allowing for a more frequent and accurate snapshot (precise updates) of their population stock (numbers).
Each year the population figure can be calculated by starting with the previous year’s population and taking into account:
- the natural population change: the difference between live births and deaths; it can be positive, when the number of births is larger than the number of deaths, or negative, when the number of births is smaller than the number of deaths in a specific time period
- the net migration : the difference between the number of people who have moved to a country (immigrants) and the number of people who left it (emigrants)
The EU population on 1 January 2024 was estimated at 449.3 million people, an increase of 0.4% or population grown of 1.6 million people compared to 1 January 2023 when it stood at 447.7 million.
Was this due to natural population change or net migration?
As 3.7 million babies were born and 4.8 million people died during 2023, the total natural population fell by 1.1 million. The reason for the overall increase in population was net migration.
Play with the visualisation below to see how the population in your country has changed over time and compare it to other countries.
Population pyramid
A population pyramid is a graph that shows the number of people in a country sorted by age group in a certain year. It usually places the oldest age group on top and the youngest at the bottom, figures referring to men are normally shown on the left side and women on the right.
In the visual below you can see the population pyramid and compare the population in 2024 to 2009. This kind of graph is very useful to help understand, for example, if the EU has more young people, working-age adults, or older people; the pyramid also shows the balance of men and women in each age group.
.png)
Population changes: births and deaths
To see how fast a population is growing or declining we can use the crude birth rate and the crude death rate.
The crude birth rate is calculated by dividing the number of newborn children (live births) in a specific year by the average population in the same year; it is expressed as the number of new-born children for every 1 000 people. It is called "crude" because it does not consider the distribution of the population by age and sex.
On the other hand, the crude death rate is the number of deaths during a calendar year compared to the average population in the same year, expressed as the number of deaths per every 1 000 people.
In 2023, 3.7 million children were born in the EU, while the population was 447.7 million; therefore the crude birth rate for the EU was 8.2, meaning that about 8 births were registered for every
1 000 people. In the same year, 4.9 million people died in the EU, which means almost 11 deaths for every 1 000 people (crude death rate).
Play with the visualisation below to see how the crude birth rate and the crude death rate have evolved in your country and compare it with the EU and other countries.
A more detailed measure than the crude birth rate is the fertility rate. This focuses specifically on women in their childbearing years. The fertility rate represents the average number of children that a woman could have during her childbearing age. The calculation is based on the average number of live births for different age groups. For example, in 2023 Bulgaria with 1.81 live births, had the the highest fertility rate amongst the EU countries.
Another useful indicator that helps us understand trends in family planning and lifestyle choices is the mean age of women at the birth of their first child. For example, first-time mothers in the EU, in 2023 were on average aged 29.8 years.
Do you know the fertility rate and the mean age of first-time mothers for your country? Check them out in the visualisation below.
Are we living longer?
How long can a person expect to live? We can get an idea thanks to the life expectancy indicator.
This indicator tells us how long a new-born baby can expect to live depending on the year of their birth. It is an estimate that takes into account current mortality conditions (such as disease and lifestyle factors) and how likely a person is to die at each age (the death rates observed for the current period).
Life expectancy is usually calculated for the whole population, but it is also measured separately for men and women. For example, in 2023, life expectancy at birth in the EU was estimated at 81.4 years in 2023, reaching 84 years for women and 78.7 years for men.
Do you want to learn more about changes in life expectancy? With the visualisation below you can see how life expectancy has changed over time and explore the overall trends as well as the changes for men and women.
Play with statistics
Do you want to test your knowledge on population and other statistics? Take Eurostat’ s quiz and learn more about the EU countries in a fun way. You can test yourself, your friends and family, students and colleagues.
Click on the icon below, choose your language and get started!
