Demographic change in the EU

The EU has been going through a period of demographic and societal change. Tackling the impact of this change is at the heart of a Union that strives for more. On 17 June 2020, the European Commission published the ‘Report on the impact of demographic change’ that presents the drivers of demographic change and the impact they are having across the European Union.

The report answers to the request included in the mission letter from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to the Vice-President for 'Demography and Democracy' Dubravka Šuica:

“I want you to draw on the work of Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, to analyse the impact of demographic change on different groups in society and on areas and regions disproportionately affected. You should produce a report in the first 6 months of our mandate to help identify actions.”

The report helps identifying how people, regions and communities that are most affected can best be supported to adapt to changing realities. On the basis of this report, the Commission will engage in a dialogue with relevant stakeholders, in particular at regional level, and discuss with Member States, EU institutions and bodies, notably the ‘European Economic and Social Committee’ and the ‘Committee of the Regions’. With this in mind, and using the findings in this report as a starting point, the Commission will put forward a Green Paper on ‘Ageing and a Long-term vision for Rural Areas’. This report also shows the need to embed demographic considerations across its policies. You can read more on this on the dedicated page of the European Commission.

The findings of the report show that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Policy-making needs to zoom into the reality on the ground. The European Union, its Member States and regions have a shared interest in responding to demographic change for the benefit of all European citizens.

The Staff Working Document supplements the ‘Report on the impact of demographic change’ with more detail statistical information. Readers interested in digging a bit more into the statistical data will discover an ample collection of figures, maps and tables, accompanied by brief descriptions.

Furthermore, complementing the report, Eurostat provides a set of country factsheets on the 27 Member States. Drawing on statistics produced by Eurostat, the factsheets present a carefully chosen selection of demographic and social statistics allowing a glimpse at individual Member State demographic figures.

We encourage you to have a look at the factsheet below to get an impression of the wealth of demographic and social statistics that you can find on the Eurostat website. Please also read the information on the statistics shown in the factsheet before.