Estonia among top three EU countries with fastest population decline
Estonia ranks second in the European Union for population decline rate, according to Eurostat data. Latvia leads this indicator.
According to Eurostat data, the population of the European Union has grown for the fifth consecutive year, reaching 452 million on January 1, 2026 – an increase of 706,000 compared to the previous year. However, some member states show a contrasting trend.
Estonia had 1,360,745 inhabitants at the beginning of 2026 and is among the three countries with the sharpest population decrease. The decline rate in Estonia was 6.8 persons per thousand inhabitants, the second highest in the EU. Latvia ranked first with a decline of 8.3 per thousand, followed by Hungary with 5.4 per thousand.
Overall, the EU population has grown by 8 million over the last decade and by 16 million compared to 2006. However, the growth rate has slowed significantly: in the 1960s, the annual increase averaged 3 million people, while in the 2010s it was only about 600,000.
Eurostat notes that since 2012, natural population decline (deaths exceeding births) has been offset solely by positive net migration. Migration remains the main factor sustaining population growth in the EU.
In contrast, the highest population increase was recorded in Malta – plus 24.1 persons per thousand inhabitants. Germany remains the largest EU country with 83.5 million residents (18.5% of the total EU population), followed by France (15.3%), Italy (13%), Spain (11%), and Poland (8%). These five countries together account for about two-thirds of the entire EU population.
