The population of the EU is not only constantly smaller, but also older and older. In the year 2006 there were still four workers per 65-year-old, but by 2050 there will only be two left. The demographic report recently published by the Scientific Service of the European Parliament for a „dramatic“ aging speaks for this year.
According to the study, the number of working adults (aged 15-64) in the EU will steadily decline until 2060 thanks to increased life expectancy. By contrast, the number of people over 80 is likely to more than double by 2050, reaching 11.4 percent.
Low birth rates in states with economic crises
As life expectancy increases, birth rates decline. While it was still 2.5 children per woman in Europe in 1960, today it is only 1.6. They were especially low in the southern European countries of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Poland. To keep the population at the current level, 2.1 children would be necessary. The report refers to the role of migration.
„The EU represents a steadily shrinking part of the world’s population,“ it said. While the EU population today accounts for 6.5 percent of the earth’s population, at the end of the century it is likely to be only about four percent. In connection with these demographic developments, there are numerous political, social and economic problems to be solved.
