According to the European Union’s statistics institute the average birth rate for the 28 EU countries was 10.0 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The EU’s average natural growth rate, or the difference between births and deaths, in 2015 was negative for the first time (-0.3 per 1,000 inhabitants).
Across the EU last year 5.1 million newborns were registered and 5.2 million deaths.
Despite the negative natural growth rate the EU’s overall population increased by almost 2 million people due to migration.