The population of Greece is seen as declining by some 30,000 people in just a year, from 10,768,000 in 2017 to 10,738,000 this year, Europe’s statistical service said on Tuesday.

According to estimates by Eurostat, this contraction of 2.3 percent comes against the European average, as the population of the bloc as a whole grew in that same period, albeit by just 1.1 million people or so, to 512.6 million from 511.5 million. This increase, however, is attributed to immigration, as deaths outnumbered births.

During 2017, the population increased in 19 EU Member States and decreased in nine, ELSTAT said.

The largest relative increase was observed in Malta (32.9 percent), ahead of Luxembourg (19 pct), Sweden (12 pct), Ireland (11.2 pct) and Cyprus (11.0 pct).

The largest decrease was in Lithuania (-13.8 percent), followed by Croatia (-11.8 pct), Latvia (-8.1 pct), Bulgaria (-7.3 pct) and Romania (-6.2 pct).