Comparison of the U. K.’s, European Union’s, and US Populations

Comparison of UK, European Union, and US Populations

 
Many of us know the UK for their Royalty and history, their wonderful collection of artifacts in the British Museum, their accents, their actors, Downton Abbey, the Beatles, their habit of piling stones in circles, the Rolling Stones, etc. We have no notion of their population or economics. I am just going to provide some of these boring population numbers in comparison to the European Union (EU) and the US to get a feel for their size. The next article will report on the GDP comparisons.

 
I was surprised to learn that the UK population is 65 million, compared to the US population of 324 million, so they are 20% of the US population. I was also surprised to learn that they are essentially tied with the population of France at 64 million. We are also admirable of France with their great history, monuments, cuisine, museums, culture, nearly unpronounceable language, tourism, and long vacations.

 
In fact, all of the venerable historical and cultural countries of the EU have similarly smaller populations compared to the US. Here are the top six in population: Germany, 81 million; UK, 65 million; France, 64 million; Italy, 63 million; Spain, 46 million; and Poland, 39 million.

 
The total of the top 6 is 358 million. The total population of the 28 countries in the EU is 508 million, so the top 6 have 70% of the total. The total of the top 5 is comparable to the population of the US.  The U.K.  has 12.8% of the EU population, or about an eighth. The US has 64% of the population of the EU.

 
Comparing the UK to the US, and to California with its population of 37 million, and Texas with its population of 25 million, the U.K.  slightly beats the combined population of California and Texas with 62 million.

 
Even if Scotland soon departs from the UK  in order to remain in the EU, it only takes away 5.3 million from its’ population.

About Dennis SILVERMAN

I am a retired Professor of Physics and Astronomy at U C Irvine. For two decades I have been active in learning about energy and the environment, and in reporting on those topics for a decade. For the last four years I have added science policy. Lately, I have been reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic of our times.
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