Decline in European Population Is Projected

Europe’s population may start a steep decline within a few decades, researchers say.

Writing in the journal Science, researchers said European population growth reached a turning point in 2000, when the number of children dropped to a level that statistically assured there will be fewer parents in the next generation. “If the current fertility rate of around 1.5 births per woman persists until 2020, negative momentum will result in 88 million fewer people in 2100,” the researchers said. The European Union population in 2000 was about 375 million.