A total of 787,523 children were born last year – around 2,600 more than in 2017, according to new data from the Federal Statistical Office. The birth rate remained at 1.57 children per woman.

The figures also show a significant spike in the number of women becoming mothers at the age of 40 or older in the last 30 years.

There were around 42,800 babies born to mothers in this age group last year. That means the number of newborns per 1,000 women aged 40 and above was 88 in 2018. In 1990, that number was just 23.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about having a baby in Germany

Graph translated by Statista for The Local

The state with the most new babies born last year was Hamburg, with 12 newborns per 1,000 inhabitants. Next came Berlin and Bremen with with 11 newborns each per 1,000 inhabitants.

The states which have a relatively young population, such as Hamburg and Berlin, have more potential parents and that goes some way to explain why more children are born there.

Rising birth rates in Germany are good news for the country, as Destatis' population projections see the ratio of working-age people to over-65s falling to just two to one by 2060, compared with around three to one in 2015.

The Bundesbank central bank warned in 2017 that a wave of retirement among the post-war baby boomer generation could begin sapping economic growth from the middle of next decade, as there will be fewer young workers to replace them.

READ ALSO: German birth rate surges to highest level in four decades