7.1. There has not been a new set of projections published by Eurostat[4] from European countries since the 2010- based projections. Therefore it is not possible to find an appropriate comparable European Union (EU) projection for the 2012 based population projections. Since the difference between the 2010 based projections and the 2012 based projections is on average 5,000 over the projected period, comparing the 2010-based projection with Eurostat's 2010-based convergence scenario projection[4] may still be informative.
7.2. Figure 14 compares the projected change in Scotland's population between 2010 and 2035 with that for other countries in Europe. For UK countries these have been calculated using the 2010-based principal projection. For the other countries the figures are taken from Eurostat's 2010-based convergence scenario projection, which was the last set of projections produced at the European level. Countries such as Germany and most of the recent accession states in Eastern Europe are projected to experience a decline in population. The populations of Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Denmark and Italy are all projected to increase but by less than in Scotland. The population of the remaining 12 EU member states, including the UK, are projected to increase by more than Scotland.
Figure 14: Projected percentage population change in selected European countries1, 2, 2010-2035, 2010-based projections