Walk through Moldova and, statistically, you are more likely to pass a woman than a man, by a wider margin than almost anywhere else on Earth. Moldova’s sex ratio, 85.2 men for every 100 women, makes it one of the most female skewed populations in the world, a title it shares with several of its immediate neighbors. Meanwhile in Malta, men slightly outnumber women.
Europe’s Gender Balance, the Basic Numbers
Precise continent-wide male and female totals across all 47 UN-defined European countries are not published as a single consistent figure, but the EU’s 27 member states, home to 450.6 million of Europe’s roughly 743 million people, offer a reliable and representative picture. In 2025, the EU’s female population stood at almost 230 million, against 220.6 million men, a gap of roughly 9.4 million more women than men.
| Measure | EU-27, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Female population | approx 230 million |
| Male population | approx 220.6 million |
| Difference | approx 9.4 million more women |
| Female share | 51.0% |
| Male share | 49.0% |
Source: Statista, elaboration of EU population data by country and gender, 2025.
Sex Versus Gender, a Quick Note on the Data
The statistics in this article, like nearly all national demographic data, record sex as reported in civil registration, census, or population register systems, generally categorized as male or female. This is standard practice for the population registers, censuses, and vital statistics systems that feed into UN and Eurostat datasets, and it does not capture gender identity as a separate concept. Where this article uses the word gender in a heading, it refers to the binary sex categories used in the underlying demographic data, consistent with how these statistics are collected and published by national statistical offices.
Why the Ratio Shifts With Age
At birth, biology produces a remarkably consistent pattern across virtually every human population, including all of Europe. Roughly 105 to 107 boys are born for every 100 girls, a ratio that holds steady across nearly every European country regardless of income, region, or culture. If birth were the only factor, men would slightly outnumber women throughout life. They do not, because male mortality runs higher at nearly every age after birth, from accidents and risk-taking in young adulthood to cardiovascular disease, alcohol-related causes, and occupational hazards in middle and older age. By the time a population reaches its oldest age brackets, the early male numerical advantage has not just disappeared, it has reversed dramatically, women substantially outnumber men in the 80-plus age group in every European country without exception.
Europe’s Sex Ratio by Country
| Rank (most female skewed) | Country | Males per 100 Females | Female Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moldova | 85.2 | 54.0% |
| 2 | Latvia | 86.4 | 53.6% |
| 3 | Russia | 86.6 | 53.6% |
| 4 | Ukraine | 86.9 | 53.5% |
| 5 | Belarus | 87.3 | 53.4% |
| 6 | Lithuania | 89.4 | 52.8% |
| 7 | Serbia | 90.3 | 52.6% |
| 8 | Estonia | 90.6 | 52.5% |
| 9 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 90.8 | 52.4% |
| 10 | Portugal | 91.0 | 52.4% |
| Rank (closest to balanced or most male leaning) | Country | Males per 100 Females | Male Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malta | 107.9 | 51.9% |
| 2 | Iceland | 104.9 | 51.2% |
| 3 | Andorra | 104.6 | 51.1% |
| 4 | Norway | 101.6 | 50.4% |
| 5 | Sweden | 101.5 | 50.4% |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 101.3 | 50.3% |
| 7 | Slovenia | 101.0 | 50.2% |
| 8 | Ireland | 98.0 | 50.5% (female) |
| 9 | Denmark | 98.8 | 50.3% (female) |
| 10 | Switzerland and Netherlands | 98.7 | 50.3% (female) |
Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, elaborated by PopulationPyramids.org, 2026 estimates.
The pattern splits along a recognizable line. Eastern European and post-Soviet countries, Moldova, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, dominate the most female-skewed end of the ranking. Countries with above-average recent working-age male migration, such as Malta, Iceland, and Andorra, sit at the opposite, more male-leaning end.
Why Eastern Europe Skews So Female
Three overlapping forces explain why the region’s sex ratio is so consistently skewed toward women. Male mortality has historically run higher in the former Eastern Bloc than in Western Europe, driven by elevated rates of cardiovascular disease, alcohol-related deaths, and workplace accidents, a pattern researchers sometimes describe as a regional male health crisis.
Emigration from these countries since the 1990s, and especially since EU accession for several of them in 2004 and 2007, has skewed disproportionately male, as construction, agriculture, and manual labor sectors in Western Europe drew large numbers of male migrant workers, leaving a relatively more female population behind.
Historical population shocks, particularly the mortality of World War II and its long demographic aftershock through the Soviet period, permanently altered the age and sex structure of Russia and several neighboring countries in ways still visible in the data today, especially among the oldest age cohorts.
Gender Composition by Age
The clearest way to see how dramatically the ratio shifts across a lifetime is to compare it band by band, using EU-wide age structure patterns as an illustrative guide.
| Age Band | General Pattern Across Europe |
|---|---|
| 0 to 14 | Slight male majority, reflecting the natural sex ratio at birth of roughly 105 to 107 boys per 100 girls |
| 15 to 24 | Near balanced, with a small residual male majority in most countries |
| 25 to 44 | Near balanced, though migration can tilt this band noticeably in either direction depending on the country |
| 45 to 64 | Balance begins shifting toward women as male mortality accumulates |
| 65 to 79 | Clear female majority in nearly every European country |
| 80 and above | Substantial female majority everywhere in Europe, often 60% or more female in this band |
This progression is the real story behind any national sex ratio figure. A country’s overall ratio is essentially a weighted average of a population that starts life slightly male-majority and ends it strongly female-majority, so a country’s median age and the size of its oldest cohorts directly shape where its overall ratio lands. This is a major reason why older, more rapidly aging countries in Eastern Europe show more female-skewed overall ratios than younger, more migration-heavy countries in the west.
Migration and Europe’s Gender Balance
Migration flows are not evenly split by sex, and the direction of that imbalance varies by migration type. Labor migration into construction, agriculture, and manual trades has historically skewed male, which is part of why several Western and Southern European destination countries with strong recent labor migration inflows show closer to balanced or even slightly male-leaning ratios in their working-age population specifically, even where the national total, once older cohorts are included, still tilts female. Family reunification and care-sector migration, by contrast, tend to skew more female. The net effect on a country’s overall sex ratio is usually modest, since total migration flows are generally a small fraction of the resident population in any given year, but the effect can be more visible within specific age bands or specific origin-country migrant communities.
Historical Changes in Europe’s Gender Structure
Europe’s sex ratio has not always looked like it does today. The two world wars, and especially the Second World War, killed disproportionately more men than women across most of the continent, producing sharply female-skewed populations in the affected age cohorts for decades afterward, an effect still faintly visible in the oldest surviving age bands of countries like Russia and Germany. The postwar decades gradually normalized the ratio in Western Europe as those war-affected cohorts aged out of the population and were replaced by more balanced younger generations. Eastern Europe’s ratio, by contrast, has remained more persistently female-skewed, sustained less by wartime losses at this point and more by the ongoing male mortality gap and continued emigration patterns described above.
Future Male and Female Population
Looking toward 2030 and 2050, the sex ratio gap in Eastern Europe is likely to persist and could widen further in the countries currently losing the most working-age male population to emigration, unless male mortality rates converge more closely with Western European levels or migration patterns shift substantially. In Western and Northern Europe, ratios are likely to stay close to their current near-balanced position, with the main driver of any future change being the pace and composition of migration rather than any dramatic shift in domestic mortality patterns.
What the Gender Balance Means for Society
- Aging, countries with more female-skewed older populations face correspondingly higher demand for services geared toward older women specifically, including widow support and female-majority elder care facilities
- Labor markets, countries with more balanced or male-leaning working-age ratios, often migration-driven, can face different sectoral labor gaps than countries with a more female-skewed working-age population
- Caregiving, informal elder care in Europe is disproportionately provided by women, a pattern that intersects directly with the female-skewed structure of the oldest age bands
- Household formation, countries with a significant surplus of older women, such as much of Eastern Europe, see higher rates of women living alone in later life compared with more balanced-ratio countries
- Pension and healthcare planning, systems in strongly female-skewed older populations need to account for women’s typically longer periods in retirement and correspondingly longer exposure to age-related healthcare costs
Data Notes and Limitations
Sex ratio figures in this article combine data from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 Revision and Eurostat, and are generally reliable at the national level, though comparability across countries can be affected by differences in census timing, migrant registration completeness, and how each country’s statistical office handles hard-to-count populations.
EU-wide aggregate figures in this article, such as the 230 million versus 220.6 million split, cover the EU’s 27 member states specifically rather than the full 47-country UN definition of Europe used elsewhere in this data series, since Eurostat publishes the most complete and directly comparable gender breakdown for that grouping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there more men or women in Europe?
Women. Across the EU specifically, there were approximately 230 million women against 220.6 million men in 2025, a gap of roughly 9.4 million.
Which European country has the most women relative to men?
Moldova, with just 85.2 men for every 100 women, the most female-skewed ratio in Europe.
Which European country has the most men relative to women?
Malta, with 107.9 men for every 100 women, the only country in this dataset with a clear overall male majority.
Why do women outnumber men in most of Europe?
Because male mortality runs higher than female mortality at nearly every age after birth, so even though slightly more boys than girls are born, women accumulate a growing numerical advantage through adulthood and old age.
Does migration affect Europe’s gender balance?
Yes, though generally modestly at the national level. Labor migration has historically skewed male in several countries, while family reunification and care-sector migration tend to skew female.
Sources
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division,
- World Population Prospects 2024 Revision
- Country-level sex ratio data elaborated by PopulationPyramids.org.
- Statista, elaboration of EU population by country and gender, 2025.
- Jakub Marian, sex ratio by country in Europe
