More than five million children born in EU last year

Around 5.4 million children were born in the European Union (EU) last year, pushing up the total population of the 27-nation bloc to near 500 million, the EU's statistics bureau Eurostat said on Monday.

On Jan. 1, 2009, the population of the EU was estimated at 499.8 million, compared with 497.7 million a year ago. The population of the EU grew by 2.1 million in 2008, an annual rate of 0.4 percent, due to a natural increase of 0.6 million and net migration of 1.5 million.

The demographic situation in 2008 in the EU is characterized by a continuation of the upward trend in the natural increase which began in 2004, explained by a moderate increase in the crude birth rate and a relatively constant crude death rate, while net migration has remained over the same period at an annual level of between 1.5 and 2 million.

In 2008, the crude birth rate in the EU was 10.9 per 1000 inhabitants, an increase of 0.3 live births per 1000 inhabitants compared with 2007. Between 2007 and 2008 the crude birth rate increased in all EU member states except Germany.

There were 4.8 million deaths registered in the EU in 2008. The EU death rate remained stable at 9.7 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in 2008, the same as in 2007.

Meanwhile, the population of the 16-nation Eurozone was estimated at 328.7 million on Jan. 1, 2009, while that of the previous year was 327.1 million. The population of the euro zone grew by 1.6 million in 2008, an annual rate of 0.5 percent, due to a natural increase of 0.4 million and net migration of 1.2 million.