Brussels – In 2024, the European Union recorded the lowest fertility rate since 2001, standing at 1.34 live births per woman, according to data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, which notes that it is not surprising since, over the last 20 years, the rate has fluctuated between 1.34 and 1.57 live births per woman, meaning it has consistently remained below the replacement rate of 2.10. In Italy, the rate fell from 1.25 in 2021 to 1.24 in 2022, and from 1.21 in 2023 to 1.18 in 2024. Italy is at the bottom of the ranking, with Malta (1.01) in last place, followed by Spain (1.10), Lithuania (1.11), Poland (1.14) and Estonia (1.18, the same as Italy).
Of the 1,165 EU regions classified at Level 3 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) for which data are available, 439 (37.7 per cent) recorded a total fertility rate below the EU average in 2024, 714 (61.3 per cent) recorded a rate above that average, while 12 regions stood exactly at the EU average.
Rates of 1.75 live births per woman or higher were recorded in 14 regions in both Bulgaria and France, in 6 regions in Germany, in 3 regions in Slovenia, in 2 regions in Hungary, in the Netherlands and in Romania, as well as in one region each in Ireland, Greece, Croatia and Slovakia.
By contrast, total fertility rates were particularly low in Spain (notably in the north-west and some island regions) and across much of Italy (especially in Sardinia, where the figure falls below 1 birth per woman). The lowest rates, below 1.00 live births per woman, were observed in 16 Spanish regions, 7 Polish regions, 5 Italian regions, 3 Greek regions, and 2 regions in Germany and Lithuania.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
