Portugal had the second lowest birth rate of the EU in 2016

Portugal had, in 2016, the second lowest birth rate among the 28 Member-States of the European Union (EU) and it was one of the countries in which population decreased, according to the first estimates on the EU population disclosed this Monday by Eurostat.

According to data from the EU’s official office of statistics, Portugal had around 87 thousand births in 2016, which represents a rate of 8.4 births per 1,000 persons, the second lowest rate in the EU (only surpassed by Italy). Portugal’s total population shrunk from 10.341 million on January 1, 2016, to 10.309 in January 1, 2017, which represents exactly 2% of the EU population.

Eurostat emphasized an increase in the EU population, from 510.3 million in January 1, 2016, to 511.8 million in January 1, 2017, although there has been virtually the same amount of births and deaths (5.1 million). This means the natural population change was neutral and that the demographic variation was positive, in over 1.5 million persons, because of the migratory balance.

Globally speaking, the population has increased throughout 2016 in 18 Member-States and decreased in the other ten. As for birth rates, the highest took place in Ireland (13.5 per 1,000 persons), Sweden, United Kingdom (both at 11.8). The lowest birth rates were registered in southern European countries, namely Italy (7.8), then Portugal (8.4), followed by Greece (8.6) and Spain (8.7).