EU sees largest drop in births in decades: 2023 data shows

The European Union recorded a significant decline in births in 2023, with the number of babies born dropping by 5.4 per cent, reaching 3.67 million, the largest decrease in decades.

Official data released by the bloc’s statistical agency, Eurostat, on March 7 highlighted the growing demographic challenges facing the EU, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

The fertility rate across the 27 EU member states fell to 1.38 live births per woman in 2023, down from 1.46 in 2022. This figure remains well below the "replacement level" of 2.1, the rate at which a population remains stable without migration. Eurostat described the 5.4% decline as the largest annual drop since 1961, marking a continuing trend of shrinking birth rates across Europe.

Since the mid-1960s, the number of births in the EU has steadily declined, with only occasional recoveries in the past two decades. The demographic shift is contributing to the EU’s rapidly aging population, which is also facing labour shortages in some member states. These challenges have been compounded by rising political tensions around migration, with hard-right movements pushing many governments to tighten immigration policies.

In comparison to the current decline, 1964 saw a peak of 6.8 million births in the EU, nearly double the number recorded in 2023. Among EU countries, Bulgaria reported the highest fertility rate at 1.81 births per woman, followed by France at 1.66 and Hungary at 1.55. At the lower end of the spectrum, Malta had the lowest fertility rate at 1.06, with Spain and Lithuania also reporting low birth rates of 1.12 and 1.18, respectively.

The average age at which women have their first child has also been rising, with Eurostat reporting a mean age of 29.8 years in 2023, up from 28.8 years in 2013.

Despite these challenges, the EU's total population increased by 1.6 million, reaching 449.2 million people, thanks to migration. However, the continuing decline in birth rates raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of Europe’s workforce and economic stability.

By Vafa Guliyeva