The European Union will become older, poorer and increasingly vulnerable to wide-scale immigration from its neighbours, according to a new European Defence Agency report.

The agency also highlights the problems of increasing unemployment and desertification in its 32-page “long-term vision” for European defence needs which will be presented to EU defence ministers meeting in Finland on Tuesday.

The document, described by one diplomat as “pretty bleak”, is the result of a year’s work identifying the main trends for EU member nations and their defence needs.

The overall picture is of an aging, less prosperous Europe surrounded by regions — Africa, Middle East, Russia — “which may be struggling to cope with the consequences of globalisation”.

The average age of Europeans, who will only make up six percent of the global population, will rise to 45, while in Africa the average will be 22 years old.

The African population will pass 1.3 billion by 2025 (up 48 percent) with the Middle East seeing a similar percentage rise, according to the report.

Given increased desertificiation and high unemployment, especially in Africa, “the implications for despair, humanitarian disaster and migratory pressures are obvious”, the report asserts.

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