Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Southern Europe population

Southern Europe population now

150,202,719

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 151,720,922

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 150.319 million
Median age: 47.8
Aged 65+: 23.8%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 20,000 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

AGG · 1950–2100 · in brief

Southern Europe in numbers

In mid-2023 there were 151,720,922 people in Southern Europe, and 1.9% of the world's people. That is 1.4 times its 1950 population of 109 million. It covers 16 countries and areas; the largest are Italy (39.2%), Spain (31.6%), Portugal (6.9%), Greece (6.8%) and Serbia (4.5%).

Its population peaked in 2011 at 154 million and has been falling since. The UN's medium projection has 96.3 million in 2100.

Since 2012, more people have died here each year than have been born, and the UN's projection has that holding every year to 2100.

The median age was 27.1 in 1950 and 46.6 in 2023; the projection has 53.3 in 2100. 22.4% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 36.2% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) peaked in 2009 at 103 million; in 2023 it was 97.8 million.

Population, mid-2023: 151,720,922
Share of the world, 2023: 1.9%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: −0.17% · −254,935 people
Births, 2023: 1,094,121
Deaths, 2023: 1,632,682
Net migration, 2023: +118,808
Children per woman, 2023: 1.28
Median age, 2023: 46.6 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 82.6 years
Population, mid-1950: 108,563,321
Projected, mid-2050: 135,237,637
Projected, mid-2100: 96,332,970

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections050 m100 m150 m200 m1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). One column is one year's population, read on 1 January; the paper rules divide it into equal cells.

Show the numbers: Southern Europe, 1950–2100

Southern Europe: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	108,100,765	2,375,238	1,226,101	2.77	61.5
1951	estimate	109,025,878	2,330,176	1,271,233	2.68	61.4
1952	estimate	109,812,213	2,352,178	1,193,931	2.68	62.8
1953	estimate	110,669,844	2,339,293	1,177,339	2.63	63.7
1954	estimate	111,835,824	2,367,694	1,121,432	2.63	64.9
1955	estimate	112,759,352	2,399,630	1,135,925	2.64	65.1
1956	estimate	113,688,662	2,403,431	1,206,465	2.62	65.0
1957	estimate	114,545,439	2,436,661	1,185,215	2.64	65.2
1958	estimate	115,458,939	2,438,682	1,098,435	2.63	66.8
1959	estimate	116,437,009	2,471,098	1,108,149	2.66	67.0
1960	estimate	117,427,838	2,475,398	1,126,330	2.67	67.4
1961	estimate	118,343,937	2,469,564	1,111,340	2.67	67.7
1962	estimate	119,325,134	2,474,210	1,165,390	2.68	67.7
1963	estimate	120,338,566	2,497,473	1,176,108	2.71	68.0
1964	estimate	121,369,049	2,574,303	1,137,170	2.80	68.8
1965	estimate	122,518,938	2,528,507	1,154,933	2.76	69.1
1966	estimate	123,585,691	2,487,218	1,141,978	2.74	69.6
1967	estimate	124,728,047	2,482,507	1,155,796	2.71	69.8
1968	estimate	125,773,486	2,431,229	1,191,594	2.69	69.8
1969	estimate	126,745,809	2,431,206	1,221,244	2.66	69.7
1970	estimate	127,549,517	2,361,400	1,183,804	2.61	70.5
1971	estimate	128,323,785	2,373,407	1,212,832	2.61	70.5
1972	estimate	129,445,222	2,353,991	1,185,645	2.57	71.2
1973	estimate	130,672,452	2,340,845	1,227,299	2.54	71.2
1974	estimate	131,803,838	2,351,802	1,207,251	2.53	71.8
1975	estimate	133,086,640	2,310,867	1,230,425	2.45	71.9
1976	estimate	134,285,789	2,283,758	1,233,722	2.40	72.2
1977	estimate	135,486,494	2,213,071	1,225,614	2.30	72.6
1978	estimate	136,555,834	2,143,259	1,225,379	2.20	72.9
1979	estimate	137,602,654	2,062,431	1,223,233	2.10	73.2
1980	estimate	138,575,456	1,995,585	1,244,073	2.01	73.3
1981	estimate	139,716,770	1,930,227	1,245,874	1.91	73.5
1982	estimate	140,406,372	1,905,199	1,233,409	1.87	74.0
1983	estimate	141,007,813	1,846,884	1,287,094	1.79	73.8
1984	estimate	141,531,693	1,808,263	1,258,675	1.73	74.3
1985	estimate	142,050,832	1,756,266	1,284,677	1.67	74.5
1986	estimate	142,488,116	1,704,191	1,277,139	1.60	74.8
1987	estimate	142,885,459	1,680,647	1,270,033	1.56	75.1
1988	estimate	143,247,136	1,680,525	1,285,319	1.55	75.3
1989	estimate	143,579,246	1,644,985	1,280,118	1.51	75.6
1990	estimate	143,827,039	1,637,074	1,310,736	1.49	75.6
1991	estimate	144,030,181	1,611,739	1,334,428	1.46	75.7
1992	estimate	144,269,160	1,594,187	1,373,063	1.44	75.1
1993	estimate	144,141,983	1,542,295	1,384,875	1.39	75.4
1994	estimate	144,180,872	1,493,296	1,342,253	1.35	76.5
1995	estimate	144,751,128	1,464,843	1,369,359	1.32	76.8
1996	estimate	144,611,005	1,470,116	1,353,272	1.32	77.0
1997	estimate	145,057,261	1,475,016	1,359,042	1.32	77.4
1998	estimate	145,418,930	1,458,373	1,392,096	1.31	77.4
1999	estimate	145,426,996	1,456,735	1,416,198	1.31	77.3
2000	estimate	145,549,197	1,471,542	1,379,697	1.33	78.1
2001	estimate	145,862,749	1,460,470	1,373,600	1.33	78.4
2002	estimate	146,263,909	1,468,810	1,387,781	1.35	78.6
2003	estimate	147,299,346	1,490,757	1,433,684	1.36	78.7
2004	estimate	148,463,810	1,514,715	1,374,828	1.38	79.3
2005	estimate	149,606,077	1,517,127	1,419,742	1.39	79.4
2006	estimate	150,547,712	1,530,725	1,394,207	1.40	79.8
2007	estimate	151,502,101	1,538,813	1,427,214	1.42	80.0
2008	estimate	152,795,276	1,587,611	1,438,671	1.47	80.2
2009	estimate	153,684,548	1,562,610	1,446,397	1.45	80.4
2010	estimate	154,095,907	1,541,054	1,444,129	1.45	80.8
2011	estimate	154,360,121	1,488,613	1,459,846	1.42	81.0
2012	estimate	154,462,964	1,447,906	1,505,984	1.41	81.0
2013	estimate	154,268,006	1,382,323	1,474,258	1.37	81.4
2014	estimate	153,866,910	1,359,723	1,485,618	1.38	81.6
2015	estimate	153,474,922	1,328,993	1,573,079	1.38	81.4
2016	estimate	153,046,324	1,302,087	1,535,815	1.38	81.8
2017	estimate	152,894,933	1,260,303	1,594,707	1.36	81.7
2018	estimate	152,755,639	1,216,592	1,573,368	1.34	82.0
2019	estimate	152,754,413	1,179,733	1,580,102	1.32	82.2
2020	estimate	152,863,654	1,146,277	1,814,519	1.30	81.1
2021	estimate	152,528,470	1,138,787	1,747,570	1.30	81.2
2022	estimate	152,020,930	1,116,558	1,792,534	1.30	81.1
2023	estimate	151,930,785	1,094,121	1,632,682	1.28	82.6
2024	estimate	151,511,059	1,085,128	1,643,470	1.29	82.7
2025	projection	150,996,911	1,072,736	1,648,234	1.29	82.9
2026	projection	150,554,938	1,062,427	1,655,233	1.30	83.0
2027	projection	150,082,292	1,054,501	1,661,514	1.30	83.2
2028	projection	149,597,625	1,048,046	1,668,110	1.31	83.3
2029	projection	149,102,251	1,042,467	1,675,918	1.31	83.5
2030	projection	148,593,483	1,038,708	1,682,441	1.31	83.7
2031	projection	148,053,079	1,036,471	1,691,209	1.32	83.8
2032	projection	147,496,473	1,036,237	1,699,775	1.32	83.9
2033	projection	146,945,814	1,037,129	1,708,355	1.33	84.1
2034	projection	146,390,338	1,040,469	1,719,908	1.33	84.2
2035	projection	145,819,247	1,043,957	1,730,979	1.34	84.4
2036	projection	145,238,304	1,049,050	1,743,596	1.34	84.5
2037	projection	144,653,812	1,053,370	1,755,303	1.35	84.6
2038	projection	144,056,096	1,057,186	1,767,863	1.35	84.8
2039	projection	143,454,152	1,059,296	1,780,869	1.36	84.9
2040	projection	142,826,971	1,059,770	1,792,636	1.36	85.1
2041	projection	142,193,492	1,059,198	1,805,735	1.37	85.2
2042	projection	141,553,955	1,056,508	1,818,183	1.37	85.3
2043	projection	140,893,256	1,051,619	1,832,826	1.38	85.5
2044	projection	140,209,791	1,044,579	1,845,022	1.38	85.6
2045	projection	139,513,967	1,035,126	1,857,837	1.38	85.8
2046	projection	138,788,975	1,023,367	1,871,983	1.39	85.9
2047	projection	138,046,591	1,010,566	1,885,336	1.39	86.0
2048	projection	137,272,380	996,071	1,898,564	1.39	86.1
2049	projection	136,488,159	981,089	1,911,610	1.40	86.3
2050	projection	135,659,252	965,964	1,925,178	1.40	86.4
2051	projection	134,816,021	951,036	1,937,135	1.40	86.5
2052	projection	133,955,977	936,831	1,949,810	1.41	86.6
2053	projection	133,064,802	922,439	1,960,875	1.41	86.8
2054	projection	132,135,815	909,209	1,969,871	1.41	86.9
2055	projection	131,197,540	897,708	1,979,261	1.42	87.0
2056	projection	130,233,490	887,097	1,986,141	1.42	87.1
2057	projection	129,228,547	877,476	1,992,004	1.42	87.2
2058	projection	128,223,742	869,115	1,995,735	1.42	87.3
2059	projection	127,209,238	862,501	1,997,113	1.43	87.5
2060	projection	126,182,396	857,511	1,996,808	1.43	87.6
2061	projection	125,153,660	853,593	1,993,858	1.43	87.7
2062	projection	124,112,648	850,086	1,987,090	1.44	87.8
2063	projection	123,071,305	847,064	1,978,542	1.44	87.9
2064	projection	122,048,117	845,675	1,966,503	1.44	88.0
2065	projection	121,027,649	844,424	1,953,738	1.44	88.1
2066	projection	120,025,760	843,834	1,937,422	1.45	88.3
2067	projection	119,043,194	844,377	1,919,362	1.45	88.4
2068	projection	118,080,544	845,039	1,899,279	1.45	88.5
2069	projection	117,122,166	845,066	1,876,404	1.45	88.6
2070	projection	116,190,023	845,106	1,852,449	1.46	88.7
2071	projection	115,274,241	844,303	1,824,962	1.46	88.8
2072	projection	114,394,240	843,576	1,796,637	1.46	88.9
2073	projection	113,528,973	841,888	1,768,150	1.46	89.0
2074	projection	112,694,584	839,925	1,738,495	1.46	89.2
2075	projection	111,879,345	836,970	1,708,159	1.47	89.3
2076	projection	111,106,266	833,868	1,677,959	1.47	89.4
2077	projection	110,361,094	829,243	1,647,129	1.47	89.5
2078	projection	109,645,023	824,631	1,618,783	1.47	89.6
2079	projection	108,950,955	819,600	1,590,751	1.47	89.7
2080	projection	108,271,660	813,311	1,564,442	1.48	89.8
2081	projection	107,615,446	806,233	1,539,153	1.48	90.0
2082	projection	106,975,681	799,467	1,515,341	1.48	90.1
2083	projection	106,353,083	791,916	1,493,071	1.48	90.2
2084	projection	105,745,147	784,196	1,471,800	1.48	90.3
2085	projection	105,143,607	776,658	1,453,999	1.49	90.4
2086	projection	104,552,859	769,166	1,437,234	1.49	90.5
2087	projection	103,978,957	762,459	1,423,577	1.49	90.6
2088	projection	103,405,725	755,284	1,409,395	1.49	90.8
2089	projection	102,832,108	748,344	1,397,094	1.49	90.9
2090	projection	102,253,079	741,732	1,386,630	1.49	91.0
2091	projection	101,683,850	736,453	1,376,691	1.49	91.1
2092	projection	101,126,788	731,423	1,368,561	1.50	91.2
2093	projection	100,564,591	726,918	1,362,963	1.50	91.3
2094	projection	100,010,230	723,102	1,358,192	1.50	91.4
2095	projection	99,454,238	720,031	1,355,235	1.50	91.5
2096	projection	98,887,196	717,123	1,354,053	1.50	91.6
2097	projection	98,324,186	714,539	1,353,161	1.50	91.7
2098	projection	97,753,528	712,021	1,352,163	1.50	91.8
2099	projection	97,190,349	710,099	1,350,448	1.50	92.0
2100	projection	96,619,786	708,399	1,350,330	1.51	92.1

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Southern Europe

Southern Europe: member countries and areas, population mid-2023, share of the group and projected mid-2100
#	Country or area	Mid-2023	Share	Mid-2100, projected
1	Italy	59,499,453	39.2%	35,376,822
2	Spain	47,911,580	31.6%	33,127,478
3	Portugal	10,430,738	6.9%	8,753,987
4	Greece	10,242,909	6.8%	6,275,576
5	Serbia	6,773,201	4.5%	3,701,499
6	Croatia	3,896,024	2.6%	2,141,438
7	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,185,073	2.1%	1,366,462
8	Albania	2,811,655	1.9%	1,184,998
9	Slovenia	2,118,396	1.4%	1,632,030
10	North Macedonia	1,831,802	1.2%	862,997
11	Kosovo	1,700,030	1.1%	1,094,726
12	Montenegro	633,552	0.42%	326,015
13	Malta	532,956	0.35%	359,932
14	Andorra	80,856	0.05%	47,222
15	Gibraltar	38,470	0.03%	49,262
16	San Marino	33,732	0.02%	31,165

The UN's total for Southern Europe also counts Holy See, which has no separate figures in this dataset: the rows above sum to 495 fewer people in mid-2023.

Show the numbers: Southern Europe, mid-2026, by single year of age

Southern Europe: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	550,189	518,055
1	556,528	524,213
2	562,317	529,796
3	571,911	538,992
4	584,443	551,720
5	591,586	560,044
6	603,948	572,495
7	625,090	592,368
8	649,695	614,857
9	675,732	639,751
10	693,016	656,945
11	705,551	666,948
12	713,834	674,112
13	731,398	690,708
14	755,766	712,816
15	773,905	732,214
16	791,170	749,942
17	808,662	766,632
18	816,160	774,112
19	819,623	777,441
20	828,416	786,532
21	833,549	791,770
22	834,224	792,215
23	828,450	783,889
24	825,263	777,392
25	832,332	780,018
26	832,277	776,544
27	825,694	765,724
28	825,496	765,834
29	825,188	771,740
30	824,286	773,932
31	825,339	780,248
32	833,556	795,411
33	854,824	821,258
34	872,973	841,110
35	881,438	852,032
36	885,267	862,861
37	896,180	878,591
38	893,534	880,160
39	889,606	881,348
40	910,239	902,869
41	934,996	928,066
42	962,300	955,047
43	992,514	985,554
44	1,021,950	1,017,050
45	1,055,340	1,050,730
46	1,080,690	1,078,700
47	1,101,050	1,101,290
48	1,131,090	1,130,540
49	1,155,480	1,158,320
50	1,172,040	1,178,720
51	1,178,410	1,188,990
52	1,170,580	1,184,470
53	1,160,470	1,179,890
54	1,155,070	1,183,970
55	1,143,920	1,178,280
56	1,132,440	1,171,160
57	1,129,500	1,176,460
58	1,127,060	1,183,010
59	1,122,830	1,180,990
60	1,117,590	1,178,870
61	1,105,280	1,176,030
62	1,077,170	1,156,770
63	1,042,090	1,127,180
64	1,006,490	1,099,590
65	981,263	1,083,920
66	958,797	1,064,880
67	923,322	1,029,990
68	886,137	996,602
69	855,471	970,680
70	832,250	952,602
71	795,032	921,780
72	760,916	890,256
73	736,209	867,519
74	707,532	843,306
75	681,543	823,502
76	664,082	816,810
77	649,542	814,034
78	615,546	785,259
79	561,178	728,908
80	505,956	671,338
81	459,000	624,317
82	419,323	586,562
83	377,306	543,348
84	342,932	509,121
85	327,496	503,888
86	290,564	466,828
87	247,853	416,212
88	216,847	381,576
89	185,348	345,552
90	155,626	306,140
91	126,330	262,384
92	100,090	220,772
93	77,300	181,450
94	58,066	145,519
95	41,853	113,109
96	28,838	84,494
97	19,138	61,003
98	12,224	42,324
99	7,602	28,575
100+	10,011	45,224

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Southern Europe, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

AGG · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Southern Europe

Southern Europe had the most working-age people it is ever expected to have in 2009: 103,145,000 people aged 15–64, against 97,829,900 in 2023.

100 aged 15–64

20 children

35 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: the orange squares are 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023, and the rows below are how many children (teal) and how many people aged 65 or older (violet) lived alongside them.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 24 years: 1987–2010.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: the strip runs 1950 to 2100. Coloured years are the ones with under 50 dependants for every 100 people aged 15–64; grey years are the rest, and a hatched year has not happened yet.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Southern Europe, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Southern Europe gains 216,680 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 57,932 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 10,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: left to right is age, from babies to 100. Blue squares above the line are ages at which more people arrive than leave; orange squares below it, ages at which more leave than arrive. These are the UN's projection for 2020–2025. There is no record of migration by age before 2020.

Its best and worst years between 1950 and 2023: a gain of 1,181,617 (2007), and a loss of 432,955 (1960).

This is a group of countries, so its figure counts only moves across its own outer edge: someone moving from one country inside it to another does not appear.

How migration works everywhere

AGG · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Southern Europe

Of every 100 babies born in Southern Europe in 2023, 2 had a mother under 20, 65 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 33 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 4 under 20 and 21 aged 35 or older.

1950
4 · 75 · 21

2023
2 · 65 · 33

2050 · projected
1 · 62 · 37

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: each block is 100 babies born in that year, one square each, coloured by how old the mother was. The numbers under a block are the three groups, youngest mothers first.

Babies born, 2023: 1,094,121
Average age when women have a baby: 31.8 years; 29.9 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 5; 18 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Southern Europe by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	395	1,484	553	282	134	95
15–19	94,873	178,188	52,919	20,092	11,329	8,970
20–24	589,153	703,043	240,574	103,022	69,801	56,064
25–29	754,783	738,921	453,565	240,414	191,356	152,166
30–34	443,735	399,916	473,308	372,766	334,407	246,933
35–39	341,940	208,920	213,154	269,888	269,339	184,385
40–44	136,953	72,700	35,780	78,246	80,291	53,019
45–49	13,203	7,282	1,657	9,308	9,206	6,684
50–54	203	413	32	103	101	83
All babies	2,375,238	2,310,867	1,471,542	1,094,121	965,964	708,399

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual tables for regions and groups (estimates to 2023, then the medium projection), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UN WUP 2025 · Maddison Project 2020 · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The 16 countries listed were summed and checked against the UN's total for every year. The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.