The EU population will fall by 11.7% by 2100.
Europe is shrinking. By 2100, the EU population will fall by nearly 12%. The latest demographic projections from Eurostat paint a pessimistic picture of the future of the Old Continent. It is projected that by 2100, the population of the European Union will decrease by 11.7%, which means a loss of nearly 53 million residents.
According to the latest Eurostat forecasts (published in April 2026), the population of the European Union is expected to fall by 11.7% by 2100.
Here are the key data from this report:
Population: The EU population is expected to shrink by about 53 million people – from 451.8 million in 2025 to 398.8 million at the end of the century.
Turning point: The population is still expected to grow slightly in the coming years, reaching a peak of 453.3 million in 2029, after which a slow decline will begin.
Population ageing:
The share of working-age people (20–64) will fall from 58% to 50%.
The proportion of people over 80 will nearly triple – from 6% to 16%.
Causes: The main factors are the low fertility rate (currently around 1.3) and increasing life expectancy. Migration can only partially mitigate these declines.
Poland is among the countries most affected by this trend – forecasts suggest that our country could lose as much as over 30% of its population by the end of the century.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20260416-1
