the essential
The number of births had never been so low in France since 1946. According to INSEE, the total fertility index, which stood at 1.62 children per woman, had not seen such a level since 1919.
The French definitely do not want to participate in demographic rearmament. In its demographic report for the year 2024 published this Tuesday, January 14, INSEE points to a decline in the birth rate in France, despite increasingly numerous citizens.
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Last year, 663,000 babies were born in France, i.e. 2.2% less than 2023 and 21.5% less than in 2010. This is the lowest number of births over one year since 1946. This new decline is explained “mainly by the decline in fertility”, specifies the National Institute of Statistics (Insee) in its annual demographic report.
Thirties now affected by “the decline in fertility”
The fertility rate before age 40 decreased in 2024, including for women aged 30 to 39, “who were not or only slightly affected by the decline in fertility before the health crisis”.
In fact, the total fertility index (TFR) also continues to decline: it now stands at 1.59 children per woman in mainland France in 2024, its lowest level in more than a century. The same level had not been reached since 1919, at the end of the First World War.
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The natural balance of the population at the “lowest level” since the end of the Second World War
This decline is part of a medium-term trend: this index has been decreasing since 2010, when it stood at 2.02 children per woman in mainland France.
Consequence of these developments: the natural balance of the French population, i.e. the difference between the number of births and deaths, is barely positive (+17,000 people). This is also the “lowest level” observed since the end of the Second World War.
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