Bulgaria Ranks 1st in EU by Mortality Rate

In 2010, Bulgaria had the highest mortality rate in the EU, and was second by the negative natural growth due to its aging population, among other factors. File photo

In 2010, Bulgaria had the highest mortality rate in the European Union with 14.6%.

The data was released Thursday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

According to the report, there were 4.8 million deaths registered in the EU in 2010. The crude death rate was 9.7 per 1000 inhabitants, unchanged compared with 2009. In the highest  death rates ranking Bulgaria is followed by  Latvia (13.4‰), Hungary (13.0‰), Lithuania (12.8‰) and Romania (12.1‰), and the lowest rates in Ireland (6.2‰), Cyprus (6.7‰), Malta (7.2‰) and Luxembourg (7.4‰).

In 2010, 5.4 million children were born in the EU. The crude birth rate was 10.7 per 1000 inhabitants, the same as in 2009.

The highest natural growth rates were registered in in Ireland (16.5‰), the United Kingdom (13.0‰), France (12.8‰), Cyprus (12.4‰) and Sweden (12.3‰), and the lowest rates in Germany (8.3‰), Latvia (8.6‰), Hungary (9.0‰), Italy (9.3‰), Austria (9.4‰), Portugal (9.5‰) and Malta (9.6‰).

Consequently, eight Member States had a negative natural growth, with Bulgaria being second among the countries with the largest declines with -4.6‰, right behind Latvia (-4.8‰), and followed by Hungary (-4.0‰), Germany and Romania (both -2.2‰).

The highest natural growth of the population (the difference between live births and deaths per 1000 inhabitants) was registered in Ireland (+10.3‰), well ahead of Cyprus (+5.7‰), France (+4.4‰), Luxembourg (+4.2‰) and the United Kingdom (+3.9‰).

Highest population growth in 2010 was observed in Luxembourg, Sweden, Malta, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

In 2010, over 60% of the increase in the EU population came from migration. In relative terms, Luxembourg (+15.1‰), Malta (+5.4‰), Sweden (+5.3‰), Italy (+5.2‰) and Belgium (+5.1‰) had the largest net inflows, while Lithuania3 (-23.7‰) and Ireland (-7.5‰) recorded the highest net outflows.

In conclusion, the population increased in twenty Member States and decreased in seven, with considerable variations between Member States. The largest relative increases were observed in Luxembourg (+19.3‰), Sweden (+8.0‰), Malta (+7.8‰), Belgium (+7.2‰) and the United Kingdom (+6.6‰), and the largest decreases in Lithuania3 (-25.7‰), Latvia (-8.4‰) and Bulgaria (-7.8‰).

On 1 January 20111, the population of the EU was estimated at 502.5 million, compared with 501.1 million on 1 January 2010. The population of the EU grew by 1.4 million in 2010, an annual rate of +2.7 per 1000 inhabitants, due to a natural increase of 0.5 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.9 million (+1.7‰).

The population of the Euro Zone was estimated at 332.0 million on 1 January 2011, compared with 330.9 million on 1 January 2010. The population of the Euro Zone grew by 1.0 million in 2010, an annual rate of +3.1‰, due to a natural increase of 0.3 million (+1.0‰) and net migration of 0.7 million (+2.1‰).

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