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Europe's population has the half-a-billion mark for the first time ever. Europe’s statistics database agency Eurostat put the figure at 501.1 million people across the 27- European Union. This was a of 1.4 million people between January 1 2009 and January 1 2010. The of the increase was due to immigration, with 900,000 moving to EU countries. Eurostat said that the five countries with the biggest in population were Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Cyprus and Sweden. Germany’s population by 203,000. Over five million children were born in 2009 the EU. The highest birth rates were in Ireland, Britain and France, and the lowest were in Germany and Austria. Europe is still behind China, which has a population of 1.4 billion.

Increases in population are many European governments to worry about how to with the increasing numbers. More people put a great strain on a country’s resources. It can also to environmental damage and competition for jobs, houses and services. The United Nations Population Fund says population growth will also tension due to reduced living space and increased demand for food and water, and transport. Many countries in Europe are experiencing anger from people who are to immigration. Sir Andrew Green of the UK’s Migration Watch think said: “There are always arguments in of immigration…but the of people are clear that immigration needs to be brought down.”