Brussels: Europe and Arabs

3.67 million babies were born in the European Union in 2023, down 5.4% from 3.88 million in 2022. This is the largest annual decline recorded since 1961. According to 2023 figures

The total fertility rate in 2023 was 1.38 live births per woman in the European Union, down from 1.46. This information comes from fertility data published by Eurostat, the European Statistical Office in Brussels.

He added that in 2023, Bulgaria recorded the highest total fertility rate in the European Union (1.81 live births per woman), followed by France (1.66) and Hungary (1.55).

In contrast, the lowest fertility rates were seen in Malta (1.06 births per woman), Spain (1.12) and Lithuania (1.18).
Eurostat figures cover the developments observed for a range of indicators related to the number of births and fertility across the European Union. Fertility rates declined steadily from the mid-1960s until the turn of the century in EU countries. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the total fertility rate in the EU showed signs of increasing again. This development stopped in 2010 (when the total fertility rate in the EU was 1.57) and a subsequent decline to a relatively low level was observed in 2013 (1.51), followed by a slight increase in 2016 (1.57) and a further decline until 2020 (1.51). In 2021, the fertility rate rose to 1.53, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the total fertility rate in the EU fell again (1.46) and in 2023 it reached a historic low of 1.38 live births per woman. The number of babies born in the EU in 2023 will be almost twice as low as it was six decades ago
In 2023, 3.67 million babies will be born in the EU, corresponding to a crude birth rate (live births per 1,000 people) of 8.2. For comparison, the EU crude birth rate was 10.5 in 2000, 12.8 in 1985 and 16.4 in 1970.
During the period 1961-2022, the highest annual total of live births in the EU was recorded in 1964, at 6.8 million babies. From this relative high until the beginning of the 21st century, the number of live births in the EU declined at a relatively steady pace, reaching its lowest level of 4.36 million in 2002. This was followed by a modest recovery in the number of live births, with a peak of 4.68 million children born in the EU in 2008, which in turn was followed by a general downward trend, albeit with modest increases in 2014 and 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of live births in the EU first fell to 4.07 (in 2020), then rose slightly to 4.09 million in 2021 and fell again in 2022 to 3.88 million children. In 2023, the total number of live births in the EU fell again to 3.67 million children.