In 2023, fewer than 700,000 babies will be born in France, reveals an annual INSEE study.
Births continue to decline in France, according to data revealed by INSEE in its annual study on birth rates, published Thursday November 14. This is a historic figure: in 2023, the institute recorded 677,800 births in France, i.e. a decrease of 6.6% compared to 2022.
A decrease of unprecedented magnitude, which has not been observed since the end of the baby boom in the mid-1970s. “Even in 1983 and 1993, years of strong decline in a context of poor economic conditions, the decline had been less strong”, underlines INSEE.
The French are having fewer children, and have been doing so for more than ten years
Unlike the declines of 1938 or 1993, that of 2023 is also part of a long-term trend. Since 2010, after several years of high birth rates, births have declined each year. But this year, INSEE emphasizes that the decline has sharply accentuated. “The annual decline had never exceeded 2.6% since 2010.” In total, the number of births in 2023 is 19.8% lower than that observed in 2010.
This decline concerns mothers of all ages, including the oldest, and which above all reflects a decline in fertility. Rural areas, until now spared by this declining birth rate, are also affected.
The number of births is falling in most EU countries, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the country. But the decline in France remains a little more marked than the European average in 2023, while it was less marked between 2019 and 2022.
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