Greece's population dropped from 11.06 million on January 1, 2013, to 10.99 million at the start of this year, estimates released by Eurostat on Thursday have shown.

In its annual report on population figures in the 28-member European Union, Eurostat also showed that the birth rate in Greece is among the lowest in the bloc at 8.5 percent (along with Germany and Italy), though higher than Portugal, where it stood at 7.9 percent.

There were 94,100 births over the course of the year in Greece, compared to 112,100 deaths, Eurostat estimated.

Another factor that has contributed to the decline in the population is a year-on-year 4.7-percent drop in net migration, with 52,000 more people leaving the country than entering it.

On January 1, 2014, the overall population of the EU28 was estimated at 507.4 million, compared with 505.7 million on January 1, 2013.