Portugal becomes EU’s ninth most populous country
Portugal has moved up to ninth place in the EU by population after a revision to resident estimates, as the bloc’s population rose for a fifth straight year.
Portugal has become the European Union’s ninth most populous country, according to the latest Eurostat estimate and revised resident population data from Portugal’s statistics office. The shift changes Portugal’s relative demographic weight within the bloc as the EU’s population continued to grow in 2026.
As of January 1, 2026, Portugal’s resident population was estimated at 11,424,031, up 36,809 from a year earlier, or 0.32%. That moved the country up from 10th place a year earlier, after the revision published by Statistics Portugal, known as INE, in June was taken into account.
Eurostat said the EU’s population reached 452 million on January 1, 2026, an increase of 706,000 from the previous year. It was the fifth consecutive year of population growth in the bloc after the decline recorded in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland remained the EU’s five most populous countries and together accounted for about two-thirds of the bloc’s population. Across the 27 member states, population increased in 16 countries between January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026.
Originally published at Eco.pt
