Mucahithan Avcioglu
11 July 2025•Update: 12 July 2025
ISTANBUL
The total population of 27 member states of the EU reached 450.4 million as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to official data by Eurostat released on Friday.
The EU's population increased by 1.07 million from the previous year and it was up for four consecutive years after a decline in 2021 due to the effects of COVID-19.
The population of EU countries amounted to 449.3 million at the beginning of 2024.
According to estimates and preliminary data, Germany will be the most populous member of the EU in 2025 with 83.6 million people, followed by France with 68.6 million, Italy 58.9 million, Spain 49.1 million, Poland 36.5 million, Romania with 19 million, the Netherlands 18 million and Belgium 11.9 million.
On the other hand, the countries with the least population in the EU were Malta with 574,000 and Luxembourg with 681,000.
"The observed population growth can be largely attributed to the increased migratory movements post-COVID-19," Eurostat said in a statement.
Since 2012, the negative natural change (more deaths than births) in EU population has been outnumbered by the positive net migration, the bloc's statistical office said.
