The Maltese population declined slightly last year, according to figures issued today by Eurostat, the EU's statistical arm.

It said the population at the end of last year was 413,000, from 414,000 at the beginning of the year.

The rate of natural population change in Malta went down from 3.8 per 1000 population in 2000 to 2.2 last year. Net migration changed from a high of 5.9 (per 1000 population) to -3.8 last year so that total change declined from 8.1 in 2008 to -1.6 last year.

Eurostat said that the population of the EU27 was estimated at 501.1 million, compared with 499.7 million on
1 January 2009. The population of the EU27 grew by 1.4 million in 2009, an annual rate of 2.7 per 1000 inhabitants, due to a natural increase of 0.5 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.9 million (+1.7‰).

Compared with 2008, the demographic situation in 2009 in the EU27 was characterised by a slight decrease in the crude birth rate and a constant crude death rate, while net migration fell more significantly.

The population of the euro area (EA16) was estimated at 329.5 million on 1 January 2010, compared with
328.6 million on 1 January 2009. The population of the euro area grew by 0.9 million in 2009, an annual rate of +2.7‰, due to a natural increase of 0.3 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.6 million (+1.8‰).

Highest birth rates in Ireland, United Kingdom and France, lowest in Germany and Austria

In 2009, 5.4 million children were born in the EU27. The crude birth rate was 10.7 per 1000 inhabitants, slightly down compared with 2008 (10.9‰). The highest birth rates were recorded in Ireland (16.8‰), the United Kingdom (12.8‰), France (12.7‰), Cyprus (12.2‰) and Sweden (12.0‰), and the lowest rates in Germany (7.9‰), Austria (9.1‰), Portugal (9.4‰), Italy (9.5‰), Latvia and Hungary (both 9.6‰).

There were 4.8 million deaths registered in the EU27 in 2009. The crude death rate was 9.7 per 1000 inhabitants, the same as in 2008. The highest death rates were observed in Bulgaria (14.2‰), Latvia (13.3‰), Hungary (13.0‰) and Lithuania (12.6‰), and the lowest rates in Ireland (6.6‰), Cyprus (6.7‰), Luxembourg (7.3‰) and Malta (7.8‰).

Consequently, the highest natural growth of the population was registered in Ireland (+10.2‰), well ahead of Cyprus (+5.5‰), France (+4.3‰), Luxembourg (+4.0‰) and the United Kingdom (+3.7‰). Ten Member States had a negative natural growth, with the largest declines in Bulgaria and Latvia (both -3.6‰), Hungary (-3.4‰) and Germany (-2.3‰).

EU27 population growth in 2009: between -6.2‰ in Lithuania and +17.2‰ in Luxembourg

In 2009, just over 60% of the increase in the EU27 population came from migration. In relative terms, Luxembourg (+13.2‰), Sweden (+6.7‰), Slovenia (+5.8‰), Italy (+5.3‰) and Belgium (+5.1‰) had the largest net inflows, while Ireland (-9.0‰) and Lithuania (-4.6‰) recorded the highest net outflows.

The population increased in 19 member states and decreased in eight, with considerable variations between Member States. The largest relative increases were observed in Luxembourg (+17.2‰), Sweden (+9.1‰), Slovenia (+7.2‰), Belgium (+7.1‰) and the United Kingdom (+6.7‰), and the largest decreases in Lithuania (-6.2‰), Latvia (-5.7‰), Bulgaria (-5.6‰) and Germany (-2.5‰).

Population change in 2009 (1000 population)

Population 1.1.2009

Live
births

Deaths

Natural change

Net
migration
*

Total
change

Population 1.1.2010

EU27

499 695

5 353

4 844

509

857

1 366

501 062

EA16

328 646

3 378

3 063

315

586

901

329 547

Belgium

10 750

126

104

22

55

77

10 827

Bulgaria

7 607

81

108

-27

-16

-43

7 564

Czech Republic

10 468

118

107

11

28

39

10 507

Denmark

5 506

63

55

8

21

29

5 535

Germany

82 002

651

841

-190

-13

-203

81 800

Estonia

1 340

16

16

0

0

0

1 340

Ireland

4 450

75

29

46

-40

6

4 456

Greece

11 260

118

110

8

27

35

11 295

Spain

45 828

495

391

103

58

161

45 989

France

64 367

822

546

276

71

347

64 714

Italy

60 045

569

592

-23

318

295

60 340

Cyprus

797

10

5

4

-3

1

798

Latvia

2 261

22

30

-8

-5

-13

2 248

Lithuania

3 350

37

42

-5

-15

-21

3 329

Luxembourg

494

6

4

2

7

9

502

Hungary

10 031

96

130

-34

16

-18

10 013

Malta

414

4

3

1

-2

-1

413

Netherlands

16 486

185

134

51

41

92

16 578

Austria

8 355

76

77

-1

21

20

8 375

Poland

38 136

418

385

33

-1

31

38 167

Portugal

10 627

99

104

-5

15

10

10 638

Romania

21 499

222

257

-35

-2

-36

21 462

Slovenia

2 032

22

19

3

12

15

2 047

Slovakia

5 412

61

53

8

4

13

5 425

Finland

5 326

60

50

11

15

25

5 351

Sweden

9 256

112

90

22

63

84

9 341

United Kingdom

61 596

790

560

231

182

412

62 008

Croatia

4 435

:

:

:

:

:

:

Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia

2 049

24

19

5

-1

4

2 053

Turkey

71 517

1 270

461

809

235

1 044

72 561

Iceland

319

5

2

3

-5

-2

318

Liechtenstein

36

0

0

0

0

0

36

Norway

4 799

62

41

20

39

59

4 858

Switzerland

7 702

78

63

16

66

81

7 783

* including the statistical adjustment that corresponds to all changes in the population that cannot be classified as births, deaths, immigration or emigration.

: Data not available

0 less than +/-500

Data are provisional.

Rates of population change (per 1000 population)

Natural change

Net migration*

Total change

2000

2008

2009

2000

2008

2009

2000

2008

2009

EU27

0.6

1.2

1.0

1.5

2.9

1.7

2.1

4.1

2.7

EA16

1.1

1.2

1.0

3.1

3.4

1.8

4.2

4.6

2.7

Belgium

1.0

2.2

2.0

1.4

5.6

5.1

2.4

7.8

7.1

Bulgaria

-5.1

-4.3

-3.6

0.0

-0.1

-2.1

-5.1

-4.4

-5.6

Czech Republic

-1.8

1.4

1.0

0.6

6.9

2.7

-1.1

8.3

3.7

Denmark

1.7

1.9

1.4

1.9

3.5

3.9

3.6

5.4

5.3

Germany

-0.9

-2.0

-2.3

2.0

-0.7

-0.2

1.2

-2.6

-2.5

Estonia

-3.9

-0.5

-0.2

0.2

0.1

0.0

-3.7

-0.4

-0.2

Ireland

6.1

10.6

10.2

8.4

0.4

-9.0

14.5

11.0

1.3

Greece

-0.2

0.9

0.7

2.7

3.2

2.4

2.5

4.1

3.1

Spain

0.9

2.8

2.2

9.7

9.2

1.3

10.6

12.0

3.5

France

4.4

4.5

4.3

2.7

1.5

1.1

7.1

6.0

5.4

Italy

-0.2

-0.1

-0.4

0.9

7.3

5.3

0.7

7.1

4.9

Cyprus

4.5

5.1

5.5

5.7

4.5

-4.0

10.2

9.6

1.5

Latvia

-5.0

-3.1

-3.6

-2.3

-1.1

-2.1

-7.4

-4.2

-5.7

Lithuania

-1.4

-2.6

-1.6

-5.8

-2.3

-4.6

-7.2

-4.9

-6.2

Luxembourg

4.5

4.1

4.0

7.9

15.8

13.2

12.4

19.9

17.2

Hungary

-3.7

-3.1

-3.4

1.6

1.6

1.6

-2.1

-1.4

-1.8

Malta

3.8

2.1

2.2

2.3

5.9

-3.8

6.1

8.1

-1.6

Netherlands

4.2

3.0

3.1

3.6

1.9

2.5

7.7

4.9

5.6

Austria

0.2

0.3

-0.1

2.2

4.1

2.5

2.3

4.4

2.4

Poland

0.3

0.9

0.9

-10.7

-0.4

0.0

-10.4

0.5

0.8

Portugal

1.4

0.0

-0.5

4.6

0.9

1.4

6.0

0.9

1.0

Romania

-0.9

-1.5

-1.6

-0.2

0.1

-0.1

-1.1

-1.4

-1.7

Slovenia

-0.2

1.7

1.4

1.4

9.2

5.8

1.2

10.9

7.2

Slovakia

0.5

0.8

1.5

-4.1

1.3

0.8

-3.7

2.1

2.3

Finland

1.4

2.0

2.0

0.5

2.9

2.7

1.9

4.9

4.7

Sweden

-0.3

1.9

2.3

2.7

6.0

6.7

2.4

8.0

9.1

United Kingdom

1.2

3.5

3.7

2.4

3.3

2.9

3.6

6.8

6.7

Croatia

-1.5

-1.9

:

-11.7

1.6

:

-13.2

-0.3

:

Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia

5.9

1.9

2.3

-1.2

-0.3

-0.2

4.7

1.7

2.0

Turkey

14.1

11.4

11.2

0.9

1.7

3.3

14.9

13.1

14.5

Iceland

8.8

9.0

9.5

6.5

3.3

-15.0

15.3

12.3

-5.5

Liechtenstein

5.5

4.1

4.9

7.8

2.5

3.9

13.4

6.6

8.8

Norway

3.4

3.9

4.2

2.2

9.1

8.0

5.6

13.0

12.2

Switzerland

2.2

2.0

2.0

3.3

12.1

8.5

5.5

14.2

10.5

* including the statistical adjustment that corresponds to all changes in the population that cannot be classified as births, deaths, immigration or emigration.

: Data not available

Data are provisional.


Natural change (per 1000 population)

Crude birth rate

Crude death rate

2000

2008

2009

2000

2008

2009

EU27

10.6

10.9

10.7

10.0

9.7

9.7

EA16

10.7

10.5

10.3

9.5

9.3

9.3

Belgium

11.2

11.7

11.7

10.2

9.5

9.6

Bulgaria

9.0

10.2

10.7

14.1

14.5

14.2

Czech Republic

8.8

11.5

11.3

10.6

10.1

10.2

Denmark

12.6

11.8

11.4

10.9

9.9

9.9

Germany

9.3

8.3

7.9

10.2

10.3

10.3

Estonia

9.5

12.0

11.8

13.4

12.4

12.0

Ireland

14.4

17.0

16.8

8.2

6.4

6.6

Greece

9.5

10.5

10.5

9.6

9.6

9.8

Spain

9.9

11.4

10.8

9.0

8.6

8.5

France

13.3

12.9

12.7

8.9

8.5

8.5

Italy

9.5

9.6

9.5

9.8

9.8

9.8

Cyprus

12.2

11.6

12.2

7.7

6.5

6.7

Latvia

8.5

10.6

9.6

13.6

13.7

13.3

Lithuania

9.8

10.4

11.0

11.1

13.1

12.6

Luxembourg

13.1

11.5

11.3

8.6

7.4

7.3

Hungary

9.6

9.9

9.6

13.3

13.0

13.0

Malta

11.5

10.0

10.0

7.7

7.9

7.8

Netherlands

13.0

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