For the first time since 1960, births in the EU fell below four million, making it one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
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The latest data shows that births in the European Union in 2022 will reach their lowest level since 1960.
That year, just 3.88 million babies were born in the EU, the first time it had fallen below 4 million.
Fertility rates have also fallen, approaching levels seen 20 years ago: the EU now has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, defined as the number of births per woman.
But how do fertility rates in different parts of Europe compare, and how have European fertility rates changed compared to other parts of the world?
The number of children born in the EU has been declining since 1960, hitting a record low of 3.88 million in 2022.
In 1990, 5.1 million babies were born in the EU, the last year in which births exceeded 5 million.
Fertility rates vary considerably across Europe
Fertility rates, which reflect the number of births per woman, varied widely within the EU in 2022, ranging from 1.79 in France to 1.08 in Malta, according to Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office.
The EU-wide average was 1.46. When including the broader European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the UK and EU accession candidate countries, Georgia (1.83) and Moldova (1.81) reported higher rates than France.
The highest fertility rates are observed in the Mediterranean country of France, while other Mediterranean countries such as Malta (1.08), Spain (1.16), Italy (1.24), Greece (1.32) and Cyprus (1.37) have significantly lower fertility rates.
Countries such as Romania (1.71), Turkey (1.63), the UK (1.56), Germany (1.46) and Finland (1.32) recorded slightly higher fertility rates.
Are European birth rates rising or falling?
Examining the long-term evolution of fertility rates in the EU reveals a clear downward trend.
According to World Bank data, the ratio hit an all-time high of 2.35 in 1970, but fell to its lowest level in the late 1990s, dropping to 1.4 in 1998.
It then began to rise gradually, reaching a recent high of 1.57 in 2016.
The EU's total fertility rate in 2022 will be 1.46 children per woman, close to the level of around 1.4 in the early 2000s.
Fertility rates in EU countries have changed significantly over the past two decades, falling in 13 of the 27 EU member states between 2002 and 2022.
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The most significant declines in fertility were seen in Ireland and Finland, where birth rates fell by more than 0.4 percentage points each, equivalent to a drop of more than 20%.
Conversely, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria recorded the highest increases, with increases of over 35% each.
This proportion remained stable in the EU, increasing by just 2%.
The EU has one of the lowest birth rates in the world
According to World Bank data, the EU's fertility rate in 2021 was 1.52, the lowest after East Asia and Pacific's 1.49.
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Western and Central Africa had the highest fertility rate at 4.98, followed by Eastern and Southern Africa at 4.35 and the Arab World at 3.14.
The global average fertility rate was 2.27, with North Africa and the Middle East recording a high rate of 2.63. North America's fertility rate of 1.64 was slightly above the OECD average of 1.59.
Since 1970, fertility rates have been declining noticeably in almost every region, but the pace of decline has been significantly slower in Africa.
All 41 European countries, including EU, EFTA and candidate countries, have fertility rates below the world average.
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