Young people in the EU: A demographic snapshot

Why should young people in the EU worry about demographic change? For one thing, because the share of children and young people in the total population has been decreasing, while the share of elderly people continues to grow. Adding these figures up means today's children are expected to face an increased burden in supporting the remainder of the population as they grow up and move into work. Indeed, in 2019, out of the 447 million inhabitants of the EU-27, 68 million were children (aged 14 or less) and 91 million were older people (aged 65 years or more). A third of the total EU population — around 142 million — were under the age of 30. There were slightly more boys than girls, with the former representing 51 % of the population aged 14 years or less.