the birth rate is expected to fall further in 2024, towards a new historic low

Between January and November 2024, the number of births fell by 2.8% in France compared to the same period the previous year and could thus reach a new historic low for the whole year, according to statistics from INSEE published this Tuesday, January 7.

There are thus 15,758 fewer births over this period compared to 2023, bringing the number of newborns over the first eleven months of 2024 to 606,591, specifies the National Institute of Statistics. Over the whole of 2024, the number of births is expected to reach a new historic low, after a significant decline in 2023.

Births have been decreasing since 2011

This new decline is part of a longer-term trend. In France, the number of births has decreased every year since 2011, with the exception of 2021, which saw a slight rebound after the confinements linked to Covid-19.

This downward trend in births is partly explained by the decrease in the number of women aged 20 to 40 (of childbearing age) and especially by the drop in the fertility rate (number of children per woman) which is is set at 1.68 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.79 in 2022.

In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in France, a number down 6.6% compared to 2022. This was the lowest number of annual births since the end of the Second World War.

All regions concerned

In the month of November 2024 alone, 53,369 babies were born, or 5.4% less than a year earlier. This is the 29th consecutive month of decline, when compared month by month to the same period of the previous year, specifies INSEE.

The drop in births over eleven months between 2023 and 2024 (-2.8%) is observed in all French regions. The drop is more marked in the overseas departments (?11.5%), specifies INSEE.