To make decisions about the future, it is important to understand how many people there will be in the future, and where they will live and work.

As a population, we are ageing. How will be deal with having many more people over 65 than we have ever had before? How will we support them? Will it help to have more children or more immigration?

The report "Demographic Scenarios for the EU - Migration, Population and Education" helps us to know what to do, because it shows the consequences of changing different factors.

Key findings

• Europeans are living longer, but they can also lead more productive lives.
• The EU's future labour force will be smaller and better educated.
• With an ageing population, the EU will need to support a higher share of people over age 65 than ever before. To do this, increasing labour force participation is by far the most effective policy.
• Higher fertility or more immigration are not enough to cope with the challenges of population ageing.
• When EU citizens move towards western Europe in search of higher wages or better employment opportunities, it exacerbates population ageing and population loss in the EU countries they leave behind.
• If a country sees a large number of its highly-skilled workers go abroad to work, the remaining population will be older and have a lower potential for productivity.
• Increasing girls' education is key for the future of population growth in Africa and the world.

With the latest demographic understanding, policy-making will be better equipped to make decisions for the future.

This report gives concise, important messages about what demographic changes can and cannot do in shaping the future population and workforce of the EU. Knowing the impact of different changes gives a clear indication of which policy avenues are most worthwhile to pursue.

Download the report

Demographic Scenarios for the EU - Migration, Population and Education

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Demographic Scenarios for the EU - Migration, Population and Education

Facts4EUFuture - A series of reports for the future of Europe