The European Union recorded a sharp decline in birth rates in 2023, with the number of newborns dropping by 5.4% to 3.67 million—the steepest fall in decades.
The data, released by Eurostat, highlights growing demographic challenges across EU member states.
The fertility rate in the 27-nation bloc fell to 1.38 births per woman, down from 1.46 in 2022 and significantly below the replacement level of 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.
According to Eurostat, this represents the largest annual decrease since records began in 1961. Birth rates have been steadily declining across Europe since the mid-1960s, with only occasional recoveries in the past two decades.
In 1964, the EU saw 6.8 million births—nearly double the figure recorded in 2023.
Among EU countries, Bulgaria reported the highest fertility rate at 1.81, followed by France (1.66) and Hungary (1.55). Malta recorded the lowest rate at just 1.06 births per woman, with Spain (1.12) and Lithuania (1.18) also among the lowest.
The average age for first-time mothers continued to rise, reaching 29.8 years in 2023, up from 28.8 a decade earlier.
Despite deaths outnumbering births, the EU’s total population grew by 1.6 million to 449.2 million in 2023, driven primarily by migration.
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