Demographics of Europe

File:European countries by population (2025).svg

European countries by population in 2025 Template:Br Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend

File:Demographics of Europe.svg

Population growth in 2021

Figures for the population of Europe vary according to the particular definition of Europe's boundaries. In 2018, Europe had a total population of over 751 million people.Template:UN Population 448 million of them lived in the European Union and 110 million in European Russia; Russia is the most populous country in Europe.

Europe's population growth is low, and its median age high. Most of Europe is in a mode of sub-replacement fertility, which means that each new(-born) generation is less populous than the one before.<ref>"Figure 8: Population by Total Fertility (millions)" in World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2011)</ref> Nonetheless, most West European countries still have growing populations, mainly due to immigration within Europe and from outside Europe and some due to increases in life expectancy and population momentum. Some current and past factors in European demography have included emigration, ethnic relations, economic immigration, a declining birth rate and an ageing population.

History

Prehistory

Approximately 5,000–130,000 people lived in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

According to Volker Heyd, an archaeologist at the University of Helsinki, up to 7 million people lived in Neolithic Europe in 3000 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

According to archaeologist Johannes Müller, the European population was about 1 million around 6500 BCE but increased to 8 million in 2000 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Estimates of historical population sizes of Europe (including Central Asia, listed under "former USSR") based on Maddison (2007),<ref>Angus Maddison, The World Economy: Historical Statistics, Statistical Appendix (2007, ggdc.net). Estimates cited are for the beginning of the 1st millennium ("year 0"), the beginning of the 2nd millennium ("year 1000"), and for the beginning each century since the 16th (years 1820 and 1913 are given for the 19th and 20th century, respectively, as Maddison presents detailed estimates for these years), and a projection for the year 2030.</ref> in millions, with estimated percentage of world population

Year	Population
	Millions	% of world total
AD 1	34	15%
1000	40	15%
1500	78	18%
1600	112	20%
1700	127	21%
1820	224	21%
1913	498	28%
2000	742	13%

Past populations of Europe in modern national borders, AD 1–2020

Population by year (in thousands)

Country/region	1	1000	1500	1600	1700	1820	1870	1913	1950	1973	1998	2020
Austria	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Belgium	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Denmark	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Finland	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
France	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Germany	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Italy	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Netherlands	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Norway	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Sweden	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Switzerland	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
United Kingdom	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Portugal	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Spain	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Greece	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val	Template:Val	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
13 small countries	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val	Template:Val	Template:Val	Template:Val	Template:Val	Template:Val
Total Western Europe	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Albania	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val			Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Bulgaria	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>		Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Czechoslovakia	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>		Template:Val	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
- Czech Rep.									Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
- Slovakia								Template:Val	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Hungary	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>			Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Poland	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>			Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Romania	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>		Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Yugoslavia	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>			Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Eastern Europe	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Former USSR	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
- Russia									Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
- Ukraine								Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
World	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	Template:Val<ref name="ggdc.net"/>

(%) Percentages of world population, by year

Country/region	1	1000	1500	1600	1700	1820	1870	1913	1950	1973	1998	2018
Austria	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Belgium	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Denmark	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Finland	0.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
France	2.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Germany	1.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Italy	3.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Netherlands	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Norway	0.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Sweden	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Switzerland	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
United Kingdom	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Portugal	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Spain	1.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	1.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Other	0.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	0.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Total Western Europe	10.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	9.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	13.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	13.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	13.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	12.8<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	14.8<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	14.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	12.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	9.2<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	6.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Eastern Europe	2.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	4.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	4.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.8<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Former USSR	1.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	2.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	3.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	4.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	5.3<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	7.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	8.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	7.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	6.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	4.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>
Total Europe	14.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	14.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	20.1<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	20.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	21.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	21.6<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	25.9<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	27.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	22.7<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	18.4<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	13.5<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
World	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>	100.0<ref name="ggdc.net"/>

Note: These numbers do not include the population of European countries' colonies. Only population within Europe.

Total population

File:Europe population pyramid 2023.svg

Population pyramid of Europe in 2023 based on the collective United Nations geoscheme for Europe

File:Europe population pyramid from 1950 to 2023.gif

Europe population pyramid from 1950 to 2023

330,000,000 people lived in Europe in 1916.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1950 there were 549,000,000.<ref name="UNPP 2012" /> The population of Europe in 2015 was estimated to be 741 million according to the United Nations,<ref name="UNPP 2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which was slightly less than 11% of the world population. The precise figure depends on the exact definition of the geographic extent of Europe. The population of the European Union (EU) was 509 million as of 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Non-EU countries situated in Europe in their entirety<ref>Population in million: Albania 2.9, Belarus 9.5, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.5, Iceland 0.3, Moldova 4.1, North Macedonia 2.1, Norway 5.2, Serbia and Kosovo 8.9, Switzerland 8.3, Ukraine 44.7.</ref> account for another 90 million. Five transcontinental countries<ref>Population in million: Armenia 2.9, Georgia 4.0, Kazakhstan 17.8, Russia 144, Turkey 78.3.</ref> have a total of 247 million people, of which about half reside in Europe proper.

As it stands now, around 10% of the world's people live in Europe. If demographic trends keep their pace, its share may fall to around 7% in 2050, but still amounting to 716 million people in absolute numbers, according to the United Nations estimate.<ref name="UNPP 2012" /> (The decline in the percentage is partly due to high fertility rates in Africa and South America.) The sub-replacement fertility and high life expectancy in most European states mean a declining and aging population. High immigration and emigration levels within and from outside the continent are taking place and quickly changing countries, specifically in Western Europe, from a single ethnic group to a multicultural society. These trends can change societies' economies as well as their political and social institutions. Template:HowTemplate:Citation needed

Vital statistics

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Year	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude rates (per 1000)				Total fertility rate	Life expectancy
					Births	Deaths	Natural change	Migration change
1950	549,721,718	12,202,220	6,473,233	5,728,987	22.2	11.8	10.4	-1.6	2.70	62.8
1951	554,559,502	12,112,425	6,609,794	5,502,631	21.8	11.9	9.9	-0.8	2.66	62.8
1952	559,609,904	12,142,368	6,265,135	5,877,233	21.7	11.2	10.5	-0.8	2.66	64.0
1953	565,058,633	12,120,826	6,220,937	5,899,889	21.5	11.0	10.4	-0.5	2.64	64.7
1954	570,670,994	12,151,779	6,072,645	6,079,134	21.3	10.6	10.7	-0.8	2.64	65.5
1955	576,304,974	12,134,270	5,987,151	6,147,119	21.1	10.4	10.7	-0.9	2.63	66.0
1956	581,975,516	12,133,583	5,899,594	6,233,989	20.8	10.1	10.7	-0.8	2.62	66.9
1957	587,711,635	12,194,100	5,963,269	6,230,831	20.7	10.1	10.6	-0.5	2.62	66.9
1958	593,669,297	12,177,600	5,647,571	6,530,029	20.5	9.5	11.0	-0.9	2.60	68.2
1959	599,684,870	12,178,245	5,816,056	6,362,189	20.3	9.7	10.6	-0.7	2.60	68.1
1960	605,629,870	12,098,378	5,783,828	6,314,550	20.0	9.6	10.4	-0.4	2.58	68.8
1961	611,711,020	11,990,399	5,749,292	6,241,107	19.6	9.4	10.2	-0.5	2.56	69.1
1962	617,672,206	11,784,056	6,023,706	5,760,350	19.1	9.8	9.3	-0.1	2.53	68.9
1963	623,335,994	11,654,646	6,031,219	5,623,427	18.7	9.7	9.0	0	2.52	69.2
1964	628,944,878	11,467,618	5,843,514	5,624,104	18.2	9.3	8.9	-0.4	2.50	69.9
1965	634,267,606	11,141,596	6,058,752	5,082,844	17.6	9.6	8.0	-0.1	2.45	69.8
1966	639,264,461	10,950,076	6,074,808	4,875,268	17.1	9.5	7.6	0	2.42	70.0
1967	644,114,436	10,969,039	6,204,646	4,764,393	17.0	9.6	7.4	-0.4	2.42	70.0
1968	648,610,191	10,821,004	6,427,622	4,393,382	16.7	9.9	6.8	-0.4	2.38	69.9
1969	652,740,596	10,685,498	6,652,543	4,032,955	16.4	10.2	6.2	-0.4	2.33	69.6
1970	656,521,426	10,568,071	6,602,177	3,965,894	16.1	10.1	6.0	0	2.28	70.0
1971	660,476,010	10,662,541	6,675,051	3,987,490	16.1	10.1	6.0	0.5	2.27	70.1
1972	664,799,679	10,499,844	6,699,913	3,799,931	15.8	10.1	5.7	0.5	2.21	70.3
1973	668,909,022	10,322,172	6,814,598	3,507,574	15.4	10.2	5.2	0.8	2.14	70.4
1974	672,912,941	10,406,013	6,818,259	3,587,754	15.5	10.1	5.3	0.4	2.13	70.6
1975	676,770,845	10,285,047	7,009,188	3,275,859	15.2	10.4	4.8	0.5	2.07	70.5
1976	680,361,150	10,242,399	7,085,837	3,156,562	15.1	10.4	4.6	0.5	2.03	70.6
1977	683,848,710	10,171,264	7,039,667	3,131,597	14.9	10.3	4.6	0.2	1.99	70.9
1978	687,149,553	10,143,418	7,183,531	2,959,887	14.8	10.5	4.3	0.3	1.96	70.9
1979	690,287,705	10,159,933	7,268,744	2,891,189	14.7	10.5	4.2	0.4	1.95	71.0
1980	693,437,228	10,156,371	7,422,720	2,733,651	14.6	10.7	3.9	0.4	1.93	70.9
1981	696,429,190	10,053,030	7,404,116	2,648,914	14.4	10.6	3.8	0.2	1.89	71.2
1982	699,220,370	10,102,647	7,373,734	2,728,913	14.4	10.5	3.9	0.1	1.89	71.5
1983	702,014,774	10,078,184	7,562,097	2,516,087	14.4	10.8	3.6	0.4	1.87	71.5
1984	704,798,623	10,050,688	7,584,914	2,465,774	14.3	10.8	3.5	0.4	1.86	71.6
1985	707,516,287	9,969,920	7,702,883	2,267,037	14.1	10.9	3.2	0.9	1.84	71.7
1986	710,385,076	9,987,274	7,423,641	2,563,633	14.1	10.5	3.6	0.7	1.84	72.5
1987	713,465,338	9,966,304	7,407,417	2,558,887	14.0	10.4	3.6	0.6	1.84	72.7
1988	716,444,431	9,840,567	7,475,880	2,364,687	13.7	10.4	3.3	0.4	1.82	72.8
1989	719,107,883	9,495,117	7,527,904	1,967,213	13.2	10.5	2.7	0.6	1.76	72.9
1990	721,497,282	9,235,425	7,681,197	1,554,228	12.8	10.6	2.2	0.7	1.72	72.9
1991	723,602,898	8,888,909	7,796,555	1,092,354	12.3	10.8	1.5	0.8	1.66	72.9
1992	725,259,493	8,523,515	7,935,829	587,686	11.8	10.9	0.8	0.8	1.60	72.7
1993	726,441,892	8,138,793	8,412,609	-273,816	11.2	11.6	-0.4	1.4	1.53	72.1
1994	727,063,162	7,913,453	8,492,472	-579,019	10.9	11.7	-0.8	1.1	1.50	72.1
1995	727,300,408	7,663,831	8,553,348	-889,517	10.5	11.8	-1.2	1.4	1.46	72.2
1996	727,453,566	7,581,575	8,394,631	-813,056	10.4	11.5	-1.1	1.3	1.45	72.7
1997	727,566,480	7,476,674	8,240,385	-763,711	10.3	11.3	-1.0	0.8	1.43	73.2
1998	727,445,606	7,369,527	8,193,143	-823,616	10.1	11.3	-1.1	0.6	1.42	73.6
1999	727,100,016	7,264,382	8,402,774	-1,138,392	10.0	11.6	-1.6	1.4	1.40	73.4
2000	726,968,473	7,325,763	8,401,888	-1,076,125	10.1	11.6	-1.5	1.4	1.42	73.5
2001	726,878,371	7,277,594	8,364,598	-1,087,004	10.0	11.5	-1.5	1.6	1.41	73.8
2002	726,939,358	7,330,526	8,520,890	-1,190,364	10.1	11.7	-1.6	2.3	1.42	73.8
2003	727,424,988	7,442,475	8,655,471	-1,212,996	10.2	11.9	-1.7	2.7	1.45	73.8
2004	728,163,243	7,558,652	8,381,363	-822,711	10.4	11.5	-1.1	2.2	1.47	74.4
2005	728,950,486	7,568,637	8,494,391	-925,754	10.4	11.7	-1.3	2.5	1.47	74.5
2006	729,857,708	7,703,029	8,237,212	-534,183	10.6	11.3	-0.7	2.8	1.50	75.2
2007	731,393,136	7,886,129	8,187,820	-301,691	10.8	11.2	-0.4	2.9	1.54	75.6
2008	733,256,182	8,169,398	8,195,293	-25,895	11.1	11.2	0.0	2.2	1.59	75.8
2009	734,902,805	8,208,268	8,099,043	109,225	11.2	11.0	0.1	1.8	1.60	76.3
2010	736,276,813	8,227,484	8,128,387	99,097	11.2	11.0	0.1	1.7	1.61	76.5
2011	737,589,666	8,132,980	7,958,960	174,020	11.0	10.8	0.2	1.6	1.60	77.1
2012	738,907,594	8,178,804	8,078,292	100,512	11.1	10.9	0.1	1.4	1.62	77.3
2013	740,013,806	8,039,791	8,033,963	5,828	10.9	10.9	0.0	1.4	1.60	77.6
2014	741,014,147	8,067,454	7,955,740	111,714	10.9	10.7	0.2	1.3	1.62	77.9
2015	742,107,449	8,004,465	8,177,599	-173,134	10.8	11.0	-0.2	1.8	1.62	78.0
2016	743,318,582	7,950,684	8,009,194	-58,510	10.7	10.8	-0.1	1.6	1.62	78.4
2017	744,449,361	7,617,755	8,076,159	-458,404	10.2	10.8	-0.6	1.8	1.56	78.7
2018	745,359,130	7,375,157	8,112,356	-737,199	9.9	10.9	-1.0	2.1	1.53	78.8
2019	746,189,645	7,108,392	8,020,246	-911,854	9.5	10.7	-1.2	1.2	1.49	79.1
2020	746,225,356	6,938,739	9,119,281	-2,180,542	9.3	12.2	-2.9	1.5	1.47	77.7
2021	745,173,774	6,879,818	9,656,398	-2,776,580	9.2	13.0	-3.7		1.48	77.0
2022	746,964,593	6,520,637	8,811,692	-2,291,055	8.7	11.8	-3.1		1.41	78.2
2023	745,602,875	6,337,695	8,293,264	-1,955,569	8.5	11.1	-2.6		1.40	79.1

Population by country

File:Population density by NUTS 3 region (2017).svg

Population density in the European Union and the EFTA countries, along with candidate countries (2017)

Template:Further Template:Update According to different definitions, such as consideration of the concept of Central Europe, the following territories and regions may be subject to various other categorisations aside from geographic conventions.

Population and area of European countries/territories

Country (or territory)	Population Template:UN population	Area Template:Nobold<ref name="UN area">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Density Template:Nobold
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Template:Flagg Template:Small	49,709	1,399	35.6
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Template:Flagg	505,000	4,163	121.3
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* indicates link goes to article on demographics of the country (or territory), not just the country itself.

Age

File:Life expectancy map -Europe -2021 -with names.png

Life expectancy in Europe in 2021

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Mirroring their mostly sub-replacement fertility and high life expectancy, European countries tend to have older populations overall. They had nine of the top ten highest median ages in national populations in 2005. Only Japan had an older population.<ref name="age">United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Highlights. 2005</ref> Template:Show

Fertility

According to Eurostat, the average birth rate in the European Union was 1.5 children per woman in 2020. The EU countries with the highest rates were France (1.83 live births per woman), Romania (1.80) and Czechia (1.71). The lowest rates were found in Malta (1.13), Spain (1.19) and Italy (1.24).<ref name="ES-fert-2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The reasons that Italian citizens give for not having children are economic costs, fear of losing their jobs, and lack of services for families.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Eurostat says that the proportion of children born to foreign mothers, including both from other EU member states and from non-EU countries, has been increasing in the EU since 2013 and stood at 21% in 2020.<ref name="ES-fert-2020" />

Religion

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Further Over the last several centuries, religious practice has been on the decline in a process of secularization. Several European countries have experienced a decline in church attendance as well as a decline in the number of people professing a religious belief. The 2010 Eurobarometer survey found that, on average, 51% of the citizens of the European Union that they believe there is a God, 26% believe there is some sort of spirit or life force and 20% don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force. 3% declined to answer.<ref name="eurobarometer 2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Eurobarometer survey must be taken with caution, however, as there are discrepancies between it and national census results. For example, in the United Kingdom, the 2001 census revealed that over 70% of the population regarded themselves as "Christians" with only 15% professing to have no religion, though the wording of the question has been criticized as "misleading" by the British Humanist Association.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 2011 census showed a dramatic reduction to less than 60% of the population regarding themselves as "Christians".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Despite its decline, Christianity is still the largest religion in Europe. According to a survey published in 2010, 76.2% of Europeans identified themselves as Christians.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Catholics were the largest Christian group in Europe, accounting for more than 48% of European Christians.<ref name="Christianity in Europe">Christianity in Europe Template:Webarchive, excluding the Asian part of Russia, including the European part of Turkey</ref> The second-largest Christian group in Europe was the Orthodox, who made up 32% of European Christians.<ref name="Christianity in Europe"/> And about 19% of European Christians were part of the Protestant tradition. Europe constitutes in absolute terms the world's largest Christian population.<ref name="Survey1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to Scholars, in 2017, Europe's population was 77.8% Christian (up from 74.9% 1970),<ref name="ReligiousDemography2017">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> these changes were largely result of the collapse of Communism and switching to Christianity in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries.<ref name="ReligiousDemography2017"/>

According to a 2003 study,<ref>Dogan, Mattei, Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline, 2003</ref> 47% of French people declared themselves as agnostics in 2003. This situation is often called "Post-Christian Europe". A decrease in religiousness and church attendance in western Europe (especially in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden) has been noted. According to a survey published in 2012, atheists and agnostics make up about 18.2% of the European population.<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated"/> According to the same survey the religiously unaffiliated make up the majority of the population only in two European countries: Czech Republic (75%) and Estonia (60%).<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

According to another survey about Religiosity in the European Union from 2012 by Eurobarometer, Christianity was the largest religion in the Union (accounting for 72% of the total population), Catholics were with 48% the largest Christian group in the Union, Protestants made up 12%, Eastern Orthodox made up 8% and other Christians accounted for 4% of the total population.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> non-believers/agnostics accounted for 16%, atheists accounted for 7% and Muslims accounted for 2%.<ref>Template:Citation The question asked was "Do you consider yourself to be...?" With a card showing: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, and Non-believer/Agnostic. Space was given for Other (SPONTANEOUS) and DK. Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu did not reach the 1% threshold.</ref>

Ethnic groups

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Further Pan and Pfeil (2004) count 87 distinct "peoples of Europe", of which 33 form the majority population in at least one sovereign state, while the remaining 54 constitute ethnic minorities. The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans. (including Europeans in Siberia)<ref>Christoph Pan, Beate Sibylle Pfeil,Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen (2002). [missing], English translation 2004.</ref>

The largest ethnic groups are the Russians, with 117 million, and the Germans, with 72 million. In some countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Spain, the designation of nationality may controversially take on ethnic aspects, subsuming smaller ethnic groups such as Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, Bretons, Catalans, and Basques, making it difficult to quantify a "British" or "French" ethnicity, for example.

There are an estimated 10 million Romani people in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Language

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Further

File:Rectified Languages of Europe map.png

Map of Europe showing the major languages

Most of the languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. This family is divided into a number of branches, including Romance, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Albanian, Celtic, Armenian and Greek. The Uralic languages, which include Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Udmurt, Mordvin and Sami also have a significant presence in Europe. The Turkic family also has several European members, while the North Caucasian and Kartvelian families which include Georgian, Circassian, Chechen and Abkhaz anong others are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe. The Basque language of the western Pyrenees is an isolate unrelated to any other group, while Maltese is the only Semitic language in Europe with national language status, although Arabic, Hebrew and Neo-Aramaic dialects are spoken by migrant populations. The Kalmyk language, is a Mongolic language, spoken in Kalmykia, located directly north of the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. The most spoken language of Europe is Russian, which belongs to the group of Slavic languages.

Languages that are not official state languages are protected in many European countries by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. These can include languages spoken by relatively many people, such as Catalan and Basque in Spain, Frisian in the Netherlands, as well as languages spoken by relatively few such as Cornish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic in the United Kingdom, and Romansch in Switzerland.

Genetic origins

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also

File:Yamnaya Steppe Pastoralists.jpg

Bronze Age spread of Yamnaya Steppe pastoralist ancestry. The Yamnaya culture is identified with the late Proto-Indo-Europeans.

Homo sapiens appeared in Europe roughly 40,000 years ago, with the settlement of the Cro-Magnons, followed by European hunter-gatherers and Early European Farmers (EEF). Over the prehistoric period there was continuous settlement in Europe, notably by the immediate descendants of the Proto-Indo-Europeans who migrated west after the advent of the Neolithic Revolution.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, s.v. "Europe : The people".</ref>

Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA

Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have suggested substantial genetic homogeneity of European populations,<ref>Torroni A, Achilli A, Macaulay V, Richards M, Bandelt HJ (2006): "Harvesting the fruit of the human mtDNA tree". Trends in Genetics 22: 339–345.</ref> with only a few geographic or linguistic isolates appearing to be genetic isolates as well.<ref>Simoni L, Calafell F, Pettener D, Bertranpetit J, Barbujani G (2000): "Geographic patterns of mtDNA diversity in Europe". American Journal of Human Genetics 66: 262–278.</ref> On the other hand, analyses of the Y chromosome<ref>Chikhi L, Nichols RA, Barbujani G, Beaumont MA (2002): "Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99: 11008–11013.</ref><ref>Roewer L, Croucher PJ, Willuweit S, Lu TT, Kayser M, et al. (2005): "Signature of recent historical events in the European Y-chromosomal STR haplotype distribution". Human Genetics 116: 279–291.</ref> and of autosomal diversity<ref>Barbujani G, Goldstein DB (2004): "Africans and Asians abroad: genetic diversity in Europe". Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 5: 119–150.</ref> have shown a general gradient of genetic similarity running from the southeast to the northwest of the continent.

Autosomal DNA

File:Genetic Diversity in Asia Fig 2-B.jpg

Population genomic PCA map, showing Europeans (CEU) among other sampled Eurasian populations<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

According to geneticist David Reich, based on ancient human genomes that his laboratory sequenced in 2016, Europeans formed from four West-Eurasian ancestral components in varying degrees: Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG), Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHG), Neolithic Levant farmers and Neolithic Iranian farmers respectively.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Population structure

A study in May 2009<ref name="PLOS-Nelis">Template:Cite journal</ref> that examined 19 populations from Europe using 270,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) highlighted the genetic diversity of European populations corresponding to the northwest to southeast gradient and distinguished "several distinct regions" within Europe:

• Finland
• the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), western Russia and Poland
• Central and Western Europe
• Italy, South-Eastern Europe, Southern Russia

In this study, Fst (fixation index) was found to correlate considerably with geographic distances ranging from ≤0.0010 for neighbouring populations to 0.0230 for Southern Italy and Finland. For comparisons, pair-wise Fst of non-European samples were as follows: Europeans – Yoruba (West Africans) 0.1530; Europeans – Chinese 0.1100; Yoruba (West Africans) – Chinese 0.1900.<ref name="PLOS-Nelis" />Template:Rp

See also

• Area and population of European countries
• Classical demography
• Demographics of the European Union
• Ethnic groups in Europe
• European diasporas
• European Union statistics
• Migration from Latin America to Europe
• List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits
• List of urban areas of the European Union
• List of European countries by population growth rate
• List of European countries by population
• List of metropolitan areas in Europe
• Medieval demography
• Demographics of the world
• List of countries by fertility rate