DOCS&FNF&Guest - EU reports dramatic fall in birth rate

The number of babies born in the EU states fell to a record low last year, according to the latest data from the bloc’s statistical office (Eurostat). Despite this, the total population has been on the rise due to mass immigration.

Births across the EU’s 27 member states stood at 3,665,000 in 2023 – a decline of 5.5% year-on-year, as per Eurostat’s figures. Birth rates have been falling steadily across the EU since 2008.

The number of births last year was the lowest in the EU countries since comparable data was first collected in 1961, and the annual decline is the largest on record, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

The sharpest drops in births over the past decade have been recorded in Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states.

Demographic experts polled by the FT believe the longstanding trend of Europeans having fewer babies may have been exacerbated by concerns over economic and political tensions on the international level, the worst surge in inflation in a generation, climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic.