BRUSSELS -- On January 1, 2002 the population of the European Union was 379.6 million. The EU population increased by 1,560,000 in 2001, an annual rate of 0.4%.

Data published by Eurostat, the EU's Statistical Office in Luxembourg, said migration accounted for about three-quarters of the population increase in the EU 2001, with natural growth accounting for the other quarter, IRNA reported.

The rise in the EU population was 2% of the total increase of the world's population in 2001.

The population increased in every EU member state in 2001. The increase was highest in Ireland (1.5%) and Luxembourg (1.1%) and lowest in Germany and Austria (both 0.2%).

There was virtually no change in 2001 in the fertility rate in the EU: 1.47 children per woman compared with 1.48 in 2000.

Average life expectancy in the EU in 2001 was 81.4 years for women (compared with 77.2 in 1980) and 75.3 for men (70.5 in 1980).

The highest figures for life expectancy were in France for women (83.0) and Sweden for men (77.5). Ireland was the country where life expectancy was shortest, both for males (73.0) and females (78.5).

The total number of marriages went down by 15% in the EU between 1980 and 2000, while the number of divorces increased by 40%.

During this period (1980-2000) the number of marriages per thousand people declined in every EU member state apart from Denmark.

The most divorces per thousand people occurred in Belgium (2.9 in 2001), with the lowest figures being recorded in Ireland and Italy (both 0.7 in 2000).

In 2001 more than half of all births (55.5%) occurred outside marriage in Sweden and the figure was also close to or above 40% in Denmark, France, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The rate was only 4.1% in Greece and 9.6% in Italy (data for 2000).