Eurostat’s alarm: EU has fallen below 4 million births. Italy has the highest average age of women at first childbearing

Brussels – Another decline that has been ongoing since 2008, when 4.68 million babies were born in the EU. After 15 years, an average of 800,000 fewer girls and boys are born in Europe. Just 3.88 million new European citizens were born in 2022. The previous year, they were still above the 4 million mark.

This is the picture emerging from the report published by Eurostat covering 2022. The total fertility rate in the 27 member countries was 1.46 births per woman. Another drop after the slight increase in 2021. 2022 was the lowest figure recorded in the EU since 2004.

 France again has the highest fertility rate in the EU – with 1.79 births per woman – followed by Romania (1.71), Bulgaria (1.65) and the Czech Republic (1.64). The lowest rates are in the Mediterranean: at the bottom of the ranking are Malta (1.08 births per woman), Spain (1.16) and Italy (1.24). The situation in Italy has been virtually stagnant for years, with the fertility rate falling by 0.3 percent from 2019 to the present. This is a common trend throughout the EU, with one exception. Only in Bulgaria, more children are born: from 1.58 per woman in 2019 to 1.65 in 2022.

The average age in the EU at which women give birth to their first child is significant: 29.7 years. Looking at individual member countries, Italy leads the seniority rankings, with Italian women becoming mothers for the first time at 31.7 years of age. In contrast, Bulgaria has the youngest mothers in Europe: the first child arrives on average at 26.6 years of age.