Europa in Cijfers - Jaarboek Eurostat 2008. De diversiteit van de EU in statistieken (en)

STAT/08/75

2 June 2008

Europe in Figures - Eurostat Yearbook 2008

The diversity of the EU through statistics

What was the population growth in the EU27 over the last 10 years? In which Member State is it most common to own a house? Which Member State has the highest hourly labour cost? Which Member States are the most popular tourist destinations? The answers to these questions and to many more can be found in the 12^th edition of the Eurostat Yearbook¹, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Europe in Figures - Eurostat Yearbook 2008 provides users of official statistics with an overview of the wealth of information that is available on Eurostat's web site² and within its online databases. It shows how key indicators have developed during the last eleven years in the EU27, the euro area, the Member States and the Candidate countries. Data for the EFTA countries, the US and Japan are included when available.

The 2008 Yearbook has fifteen main chapters on different statistical areas. The first chapter puts demographic change in the spotlight. The other chapters cover all major statistical domains: economy, education, health, living conditions and welfare, labour market, industry and services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, international trade, transport, environment, energy, science and technology, Europe's regions and finally a chapter devoted to the links between statistics and European policies. An annex contains a useful glossary and details of the nomenclatures used. The paper version of the Eurostat Yearbook is accompanied by a CD-ROM which contains the yearbook in pdf format, as well as the tables and graphs in Excel format.

This News Release presents a selection of the statistics found in the Yearbook.

Population change between 1997 and 2007 ranged from -8% in Bulgaria to +18% in Ireland

The population of the EU27 reached 495 million in 2007, compared with 479 million in 1997, a growth of 3.4%. The Member State with the highest population growth was Ireland (+18.0%), followed by Cyprus (+16.9%), Luxembourg (+14.2%) and Spain (+12.5%). The population fell in eight Member States, with the largest declines in Bulgaria (-7.9%), Latvia (-6.7%) and Lithuania (-5.7%).

In 2005, the world population was 6.5 billion, more than double than the 3.0 billion recorded in 1960. The share of the EU27 has, however, declined from 13.3% in 1960 to 7.5% in 2005.

Total population, on 1 January, in thousands