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Each EU country is unique. This means that gross domestic product (GDP) and population growth โ€“ for example โ€“ can be very different from one country to the next. Each country also has its own approach to key policy areas such as education.

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Size and population

The EU covers over 4 million kmยฒ and has 446 million inhabitants – the worldโ€™s third largest population after China and India. By surface area, France is the biggest EU country and Malta the smallest.

Surface area in thousands of square kilometres

CategorySquare kilometre
Malta315.4
Luxembourg2586
Cyprus9251
Slovenia20273
Belgium30528
Netherlands41540
Denmark42924
Estonia45227
Slovakia49035
Croatia56594
Latvia64573
Lithuania65286
Ireland69797
Czechia78868
Austria83879
Portugal92226
Hungary93011
Bulgaria110370
Greece132049
Romania238390.7
Italy302073
Poland312679
Finland338440
Germany357376
Sweden438574
Spain505944
France633186.6

 

Population by country

CategoryPopulation on 1 January – total
Austria8858775
Belgium11455519
Bulgaria7000039
Cyprus875899
Czechia10649800
Germany83019213
Denmark5806081
Estonia1324820
Greece10724599
Spain46937060
Finland5517919
France67012883
Croatia4076246
Hungary9772756
Ireland4904240
Italy60359546
Lithuania2794184
Luxembourg613894
Latvia1919968
Malta493559
Netherlands17282163
Poland37972812
Portugal10276617
Romania19414458
Sweden10230185
Slovenia2080908
Slovakia5450421

Europeโ€™s population is increasing through a combination of natural growth ( more people are born each year than die) and net migration (more people settle in the EU than leave it).

At the same time, the population of Europe is ageing as life expectancy increases and fewer children are born.

Quality of life

Living standards can be compared by measuring the price of a range of goods and services in each country relative to income, using a common notional currency called the purchasing power standard (PPS). Comparing GDP per inhabitant in PPS provides an overview of living standards across the EU.

GDP per capita in PPS

Category2018
Bulgaria51
Croatia63
Romania66
Greece69
Latvia69
Hungary71
Poland71
Slovakia74
Portugal77
Lithuania81
Estonia82
Slovenia88
Cyprus90
Czechia91
Spain91
Italy97
Malta99
France104
Finland112
Belgium118
Sweden121
Germany123
Austria128
Denmark129
Netherlands130
Ireland191
Luxembourg263

The EU strives to improve living standards by protecting the environment, encouraging job creation, reducing regional disparities and connecting formerly isolated areas by developing cross-border infrastructure.

Education

Education increases the skills of the workforce and puts them in a better position to cope with increasing international competition. The amount of money each country spends on education varies.
The EU encourages people to spend time abroad as part of their education. The Erasmus programme for student exchanges has been particularly successful.

Students from one EU country studying in another, by host country

CategoryEurope
Slovenia
Netherlands
Germany
Malta707
Estonia2475
Luxembourg2712
Lithuania2766
Latvia3310
Portugal3953
Cyprus4131
Croatia4415
Ireland5024
Finland7486
Slovakia9846
Sweden11840
Bulgaria12428
Greece17262
Hungary17389
Romania18208
Spain25546
Denmark27893
Belgium27932
Czechia37221
Italy44967
Poland52169
France55462
Austria63864

Languages

Language skills are becoming increasingly important, as globalisation leads to more and more contact with people from other countries. The EU actively encourages the acquisition of language skills from an early age.

https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/figures/living_en

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