The trend, which began in the early 2010s, is confirmed year after year. The decline in births in France in 2023 was greater than the average for European countries, according to a comparative study by INSEE published Thursday November 14.
The number of births fell by 6.6% in France in 2023, falling below the symbolic bar of 700,000 for the first time since the end of the Second World War, recalls the National Institute of Statistics, which confirms the figures announced in January.
In France, the decline is linked to several factors: the number of women aged 20 to 40, i.e. of childbearing age, has decreased and these smaller generations of women procreate less. INSEE notes in particular that in 2023, the drop in births will affect women of all ages, including the oldest, for the first time since 2010. “In rural areas, spared during the period of health crisis, births are falling again,” adds the National Institute of Statistics.
A decline that affects the entire Old Continent
Across the European Union, 3.7 million babies will be born in 2023, just 5.5% fewer than the previous year. “The number of births is falling in most EU countries (22 out of 27) to a greater or lesser extent depending on the country,” specifies INSEE.
In detail, the decline is accentuated in all the countries of the west of the EU, an area which includes France and Germany: it went from -1.3% on average per year between 2019 and 2022 to -5.7% between 2022 and 2023. The decline was also accentuated in the eastern EU countries where it had already been marked since 2019. It went from -4.5% on average per year between 2019 and 2022 to -9.3% between 2022 and 2023.
Over the period from 2019 to 2022, on the other hand, the decline was less marked in France (-1.2% on average per year) than in the European Union as a whole (-2.3% on average per year). year). Although it is declining, France’s fertility rate remains the highest in the European Union, with 1.79 children per woman in 2022, the last year for which this data is available. It is significantly higher than the EU average of 1.46. Conversely, Malta has the lowest rate, 1.08.