France’s birth rate is at its lowest since World War II, while life expectancy is hitting record highs, leading to an ageing population, according to RFI.
The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) revealed on Tuesday that about 678,000 babies were born in France in 2023, which is about 48,000 fewer than the previous year, the lowest annual figure since 1946.
At the same time, Insee reported that 631,000 people died in France in 2023, a 6.5-per-cent drop from the previous year. However, France’s population rose by 0.3 per cent to 68.4 million at the start of 2024, due to 183,000 migrants.
France’s birth rate has been falling almost every year since 2010, a period when 832,799 children were born in the country, about 20 per cent more than the previous year. France’s national demographic research institute, Ined, notes a particularly marked upsurge in the birth decline last year.
What’s exceptional this time is the extremely low number of births, the lowest since the post-war period, when France had nearly 30 million fewer people than now.
Ined predicts a recovery in fertility growth in the coming years as the generation born during the country’s last baby boom from 2000 to 2010 starts producing their own children.
The number of women of childbearing age has remained relatively stable after declining between 2010 and 2016. Today, the average fertility rate is 1.68 children for every woman, compared to 1.79 in 2022.
The average age of mothers in France has also increased and now stands at 31. Women giving birth for the first time were almost 29 years old on average in 2020.
People are also producing fewer offspring by choice. Demographers point to jobs, the cost of living, climate change and other crises as factors that may be preventing people from reproducing. Women may also feel freer to decide not to have children as French society redefines its traditional ideas about their roles and rights.
A 2022 poll revealed that some 13 per cent of women and girls over the age of 15 stated that they did not want children, up from just 2 per cent in 2006.
Like the rest of the European Union, France’s population is ageing, as birth rates decline and life expectancy rises.
Life expectancy in France now stands at a record 85.7 years for women and 80 years for men, the highest ever for both categories. For the first time, men are expected to reach an average age of 80.
As of January 2024, 21.5 per cent of residents are aged 65 and over, with people over 75 making up 10.4 per cent. This places France more or less on par with the EU average, where 21.1 per cent of residents were over 65 in 2022.
