Some 725,997 babies were born in France in 2022, a decline of 2.2 percent from the year before.

The number of babies born in France in 2022 was the lowest since the end of the Second World War according to a new study from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). 

The biggest annual decline in the number of babies born was observed in the Grand Est (-3.2 percent) and Brittany (-3.1 percent) as well as the overseas territories of Martinique (-3.7 percent) and Guyane (-5 percent). Only the regions of Corsica (+0.8 percent) and Mayotte (+1.5 percent) saw the number of babies born increase. 

Women across all age groups, except the over 40s (+3.3 percent), had fewer babies in 2022 than in 2021. The largest drop was among those aged 30-34 (-3.6 percent) followed by those aged 25-29 (-2.7 percent). Researchers say that declining birthrates among women aged 25-34 are responsible for 93 percent of the overall decline. 

The new data showed that 65.2 percent of babies born in 2022 had unmarried parents – a significant drop from the 1970s when this figure never rose above 10 percent.

Birth rates in France have been falling for close to a decade, with a brief blip in 2021 that researchers attributed to the effect of the lifting of Covid lockdowns. Data from 2023 suggests that the number of babies born this year will be even lower. 

Why are birthrates falling?

Various explanations have been put forward to explain why French birthrates have declined from their peak in the early 1970s. 

One of the most common answers is that the population is, on average, getting older. The median age of a woman in France today is 42.9-years-old, compared to 40.9-years-old just ten years ago, and 35-years-old in 1991. INSEE have previously argued that the long-term decline in birthrates is due to the fact that there are fewer and fewer women of childbearing age. 

Writing in La Croix last month, Didier Breton a researcher with the National Demographics Institute, said: “There is maybe a combination of crises and worries that make it difficult for couples to project long-term. There is notably an economic crisis and the war in Ukraine. Ecological considerations also have an impact.” 

Breton also noted that many mothers are opting to have their first child at a later age than in the past, meaning their window for further childbirths is reduced. 

Another possible explanation has to do with attitudes toward having children. In 2006, an Isop poll found that only two percent of French women said they did not want any children, compared with 13 percent in 2022.

In the long-term, declining birth numbers are a concern because a lagging birth rate means a smaller and smaller population of workers supporting an ever growing number or retirees who are drawing pensions. 

The government has taken some steps to encourage people to have children. In 2017, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to increase the number of crèche (daycare) places, but as of 2023 only half (15,000) of the crèche places promised (30,000) had been created, according to BFMTV.

Compared to its neighbours, France has not seen the sharpest decline in births. The European Union as a whole saw a 4.9 percent fall in the number of children born from 2021 to 2022.

Some countries like Estonia and Greece saw the number of new babies born fall by more than 10 percent; while Germany registered a 7.1 percent decline; the Netherlands saw a 6.7 percent decline; and Belgium saw a 3.6 percent fall.