France set to become bigggest EU state
Family friendly policies are paying off in France. The country is to overtake Germany as the biggest EU state in terms of population and economic power. France’s fertility rates are the highest in Europe, while Germany’s are some of the lowest. Projections predict that France is to have the largest economy in Europe in 2035, and believed to have the largest population in the EU 10 years later. Germany is taking steps to increase it’s birthrate by introducing measures to make having a child more interesting for couples.
France may in the future overtake Germany to become the most economically powerful of the EU member states reaping the benefits of its current baby boom, according to a German study.
Recently scooping the fertility crown in Europe with French women having an average of two children each, France is on course to overtake Germany both in the population stakes and on an economic scale.
According to a study for German daily Die Welt by the economic institute (IW) in Cologne, on current trends, France could have the biggest economy in Europe by 2035 and the biggest population ten years later.
Axel Pluennecke, an expert from the institute, reckons the shift in economic power will become most apparent between 2025 and 2035 as the so-called baby boomer generation goes into retirement and fewer people replace them.
Read the full article at EUObserver by clicking here.
Administrator @ February 19, 2007