site.btaEU’s Population Projected to Drop by 11.7% by 2100, in Bulgaria by 28%

According to the latest population projections from Eurostat, the EU population is expected to decline by 11.7% between 2025 and 2100. This translates to a predicted decrease of 53.0 million people in the EU by the start of the next century. This information comes from the population projections published by Eurostat on Thursday.

In Bulgaria, the population will also decline, from 6,437,360 people in 2025 to 4,637,765 people in 2100. This represents a 28% decline, or 1,799,595 fewer people compared to 2025 levels, according to Eurostat’s projections.

Over this period, Italy will see the largest population decline in the EU (over 14.1 million people), followed by Poland (11.8 million) and Germany (8.8 million), while the population of Sweden (1.06 million people), Ireland (nearly 800,000) and the Netherlands (over 782,000) will increase.

In 2025, the EU population was estimated at 451.8 million, having resumed its growth trend in 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic disruption in 2021. Looking ahead, t

The population is projected to continue to increase over the next 3 years, peaking at 453.3 million in 2029, before gradually declining.

Between 2025 and 2100, the proportion of children, young people, and working-age people in the total EU population is expected to decline.

The share of children and young people (aged 0-19) is projected to decrease from 20% to 17%, while the share of working-age people (aged 20-64) is expected to fall from 58% to 50% by 2100.

The proportion of older age groups (65 and over) is projected to increase. The share of those aged 65-79 is anticipated to rise from 16% in 2025 to 17% in 2100, whereas the share of those aged 80 and over is expected to increase by 10 percentage points, from 6% to 16%.