Region around Bucharest posts highest population increase in the EU

Ilfov, the small county around the Romanian capital city Bucharest, had the highest demographic increase in the European Union between 2008 and 2011. The population of this county went up by 3.3% a year during this period. Ilfov officially includes parts of the Pipera neighborhood, the popular expat area in Northern Bucharest. The population increase was due to migration from the capital to surrounding areas, as well as the natural increase. The demographic growth in Ilfov was higher than in Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Luxembourg, all of which upped their population by over 1.5% during the period. The EU population went up by a mere 0.26% a year during this four-year period. In absolute terms, the highest increases were recorded in Madrid, Stockholm, Barcelona, Berlin and Brussels, which welcomed over 100,000 new people. At the other range of the scale is the Attiki region in Athens, where population went down by over 100,000 people during these four years. editor@romania-insider.com