More births and immigrants

“While the European population is getting older, fertility has begun to increase again, life expectancy keeps growing and the EU continues to attract a large number of immigrants”: Eurostat, EU statistics office, has just published its third Report on demographic trends in the EU, specifying the variations in the population, the composition of family units, and the contribution of immigrants to the growth of inhabitants, whose number has now reached, altogether, half a billion.More babies in Ireland and in France. Among the signs of new demographic trends underlined in the Eurostat Demography Report for 2010 is the fact that the fertility rate in the EU27, after falling sharply between 1980 and the early 200s, started to increase again in 2003: since then it has risen on average from 1.47 children per woman to 1.60. Only Portugal, Malta and Luxembourg have seen no growth in the number of births per woman. The largest increases in the fertility rate have been registered in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Lithuania (all countries that only recently became members of the EU). In 2009, however, the highest fertility rates were registered in Ireland (2.07), France (2.00), the UK (1.96), and Sweden (1.94). The lowest rates were observed in Latvia (1.31), Hungary and Portugal (1.32), and Germany (1.36). Outside the frontiers of the EU, Turkey, a candidate country for EU membership, is registering a fertility rate considerably higher than the European average: namely, 2.10 children per woman. And in Iceland, another candidate country, the figure is even higher: 2.23.Life expectancy increases. Eurostat then reports that “over the last 50 years, life expectancy at birth in the EU27 has increased by around 10 years, for both women and men, to reach 82.4 years for women and 76.4 for men in 2008”. In France women live longer than in all the rest of Europe, over 85 years, followed by Spain (84.9), Italy, and Cyprus. The highest rate of life expectancy for men is that in Sweden (79.4 years), followed by Italy, Spain, and Holland. Average life expectancy is therefore higher in the countries of Western Europe, where economic development, living standards and services for citizens have reached higher levels than in Eastern Europe. Together with the growth of the average age, however, a concurrent increase in elderly and chronic invalids and persons who are not self-sufficient has also been registered.Main driver of population growth. “In recent years, immigration has been the main driver behind population growth in most member states”, reports Eurostat. At the present time 20.1 million persons coming from third countries are living in the Union, but it should also be pointed that 12.3 million EU citizens are EU nationals living in another member state, with a significant “internal remixing” of the population. In 2010 the largest numbers of foreign citizens were recorded in Germany (7.1 million), followed by Spain (5.7), UK (4.4), Italy (4.2) and France (3.8). Of course the presence of foreigners varies sharply from country to country. The average percentage of non-EU nationals living in the EU is 4%. But in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary this percentage is lower than 1%, whereas it is far higher in Germany, Austria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, and Luxembourg. Then there are the particular cases of Estonia and Latvia, with percentages higher than 15%, but this depends on the fact that citizens of Russian origin who have long been resident in these countries, ever since the time of the USSR, have no intention of assuming the citizenship of their host states. Average income, illnesses, physical activity“A good quality of life depends on numerous factors, including having enough money and being in good health. How wealthy are the Europeans and what are their conditions of health? The answer varies from country to country”. Eurostat periodically surveys the population of the EU from different viewpoints: its statistics concern not only the more properly demographic aspects, but also the work, consumption and habits of Europeans. For example, Eurostat states that the living standard in the Union varies from country to country. The highest gross domestic product (i.e. the available wealth) per inhabitant, for instance, is registered in Luxembourg, while the lowest is in Latvia. The main causes of death in the EU, again according to Eurostat, are heart diseases and tumours. “A healthy and active lifestyle is a positive factor. Smoking, poor diet and lack of physical exercise are among the factors that may increase the risk of having an ischemic heart disease”. “Physical activity is good for health”, the report continues”: the highest number of citizens who practice a physical activity in their spare time are in general encountered in northern Europe (Finland, Netherlands, UK, Lithuania), while “the least active citizens are the Portuguese, followed by the Romanians and Maltese”.