Data / Rankings / Population / EU countries

EU countries by population

Germany had the highest population of 27 EU countries in 2018, at 82.79 million. Malta had the lowest, at 474,837. The median was 8.82 million and the figure for the European Union (27) was 445.3 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest82,792,351Germany
Lowest474,837Malta
Median8,822,26727 EU countries
European Union (27)445,301,376History

All EU countries, 2018

CSVChart (SVG)

GermanyGermany: 82,792,351 persons82,792,351FranceFrance: 67,026,224 persons67,026,224ItalyItaly: 59,937,769 persons59,937,769SpainSpain: 46,645,070 persons46,645,070PolandPoland: 37,976,687 persons37,976,687RomaniaRomania: 19,533,481 persons19,533,481NetherlandsNetherlands: 17,181,084 persons17,181,084BelgiumBelgium: 11,398,589 persons11,398,589GreeceGreece: 10,667,336 persons10,667,336CzechiaCzechia: 10,610,055 persons10,610,055PortugalPortugal: 10,335,770 persons10,335,770SwedenSweden: 10,120,242 persons10,120,242HungaryHungary: 9,713,655 persons9,713,655AustriaAustria: 8,822,267 persons8,822,267BulgariaBulgaria: 6,757,418 persons6,757,418DenmarkDenmark: 5,781,190 persons5,781,190FinlandFinland: 5,513,130 persons5,513,130SlovakiaSlovakia: 5,443,120 persons5,443,120IrelandIreland: 4,855,733 persons4,855,733CroatiaCroatia: 4,014,341 persons4,014,341LithuaniaLithuania: 2,826,200 persons2,826,200SloveniaSlovenia: 2,066,880 persons2,066,880LatviaLatvia: 1,934,379 persons1,934,379EstoniaEstonia: 1,319,133 persons1,319,133CyprusCyprus: 878,601 persons878,601LuxembourgLuxembourg: 602,005 persons602,005MaltaMalta: 474,837 persons474,837
persons. Source: Eurostat. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2018
persons		Change on 2017
1Germany82,792,351+0.3%
2France67,026,224+0.3%
3Italy59,937,769-0.2%
4Spain46,645,070+0.3%
5Poland37,976,6870%
6Romania19,533,481-0.6%
7Netherlands17,181,084+0.6%
8Belgium11,398,589+0.4%
9Greece10,667,336-0.4%
10Czechia10,610,055+0.3%
11Portugal10,335,770-0.1%
12Sweden10,120,242+1.3%
13Hungary9,713,655-0.3%
14Austria8,822,267+0.6%
15Bulgaria6,757,418-1.3%
16Denmark5,781,190+0.6%
17Finland5,513,130+0.2%
18Slovakia5,443,120+0.1%
19Ireland4,855,733+1.2%
20Croatia4,014,341-1.6%
21Lithuania2,826,200-1.1%
22Slovenia2,066,8800%
23Latvia1,934,379-0.8%
24Estonia1,319,133+0.3%
25Cyprus878,601+1%
26Luxembourg602,005+1.9%
27Malta474,837+3.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_r_pjanaggr3/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest population?

Germany, with 82.79 million in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest population?

Malta, with 474,837 in 2018.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3). Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Population: other rankings

EU countries: more rankings