This sudden shock was especially pronounced in Europe’s largest 66 metropolitan areas (cities with 500,000 inhabitants and above). Almost all experienced a drop in population growth rates. Dr Wolff explains, ‘In the short run, it was the exceptional pandemic-induced drop in net migration that generated the largest sudden shock to urban Europe. This far exceeded the previous peak shrinkage, recorded in the late 1990s, when 55% of all European cities were losing population. By contrast, according to the earliest data on record, between 1960-1965, only 3% of European cities were losing population.
