Yesterday Eurostat has released a report on the population of the European Union as for 1 January 2013. It is 505.73 million, and it increased more then by 1 million people over 2012. The largest net migration was observed in Germany and Italy, while Spain felt the outflow of the population, according to ee24.com citing Eurostat.
The natural increase in the EU amounted to 217 thousand, while the migration increase - to 882 thousand people. The most popular country is Germany (as a result of migration, 392 thousand people more live there now), Italy (+370 thousand) and the UK (+149 thousand). Not surprisingly, since real estate in Germany, Italy and the UK has become a safe haven during the global financial crisis. Germany is already a home to more than 80 million people, while the population of Italy in the next year may exceed 60 million.
But Spain, by contrast, is losing its residents. Migration balance for the year 2012 was -162 thousand people. Basically, citizens of the Kingdom in search of a better life move to Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. But it gives advantage to those who want to buy real estate in Spain: during the crisis, prices there fell by 40%.
In addition, the negative net migration in 2012 was observed in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Lithuania.