Olan McEvoy
Research expert covering the European Union for society, economy, and politics.
Get in touch with us nowEU Parliament: voter turnout in the European elections 1979-2024
In 2024, over 50 percent of EU citizens voted in the European parliamentary elections, the highest voter turnout since 1994, when it was 56 percent. The highest turnout occurred in the first set of European parliamentary elections, held in 1979, in which 61.99 percent of eligible Europeans voted. Voter turnout declined in every election subsequent election, however, reaching a low of 42.61 percent in 2014.
Traditional parties maintain their majority in 2024
Although they run for national political parties during elections, European members of parliament are grouped into large pan-European political groups when they sit in the European Parliament. In the 2024 Elections, the group that won the most seats was the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) which won 185 seats, followed by the center-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) which won 137 seats.
Populist parties win big in France, Germany, and Italy
In three of the European Union’s largest countries, right-wing populist parties won an important number of seats in the European elections of 2024. In France Marine le Pen’s National Rally won 30 seats out 81. Meanwhile in Italy, the Brothers of Italy, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, managed to win 24 seats.
