In 2018, the birth rate in France reached its lowest level since 2003. From 2003 to 2018, the birth rate in France has been fluctuating between more than 11 births and almost 13 births for 1,000 inhabitants. The highest birth rate in France during this period was recorded in 2006. That year there were 13.1 births per 1,000 inhabitants. Since then, the birth rate in the country keeps decreasing. If France keeps being one of the European countries with the highest fertility rate, it is still been impacted by the decline in the birth rate that affects most Western countries.

A Declining birth rate

Birth rate is the ration between the annual number of live births and the average total population over that year. In 2018, there were more than 719,000 live births in France, while the French population amounted to 66.77 million people. The average number of children born per women went from 2.03 in 2010, down to 1.92 in 2016.

Births in France

With a crude birth rate of 11.7 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2016, France still has one of the highest birth rates in Europe. The percentage of children born out-of-wedlock in France has been rising since the nineties, reaching 60.3 percent in 2018. Another change can be seen in the average age at childbirth among French women. In 2018, most of women in France were aged 30.6 years old at childbirth, compared to 28.8 years old in 1994.