Countries across the EU have recorded a record drop in births in 2023, marking the largest annual decline recorded since 1961, with Greece standing near the bottom, according to Eurostat’s latest data.
The European Union’s statistical agency report paints a bleak picture as in 2023, 3.67 million babies were born in the EU, a 5.4 percent decrease from the 3.88 million in 2022. At the same time, the total fertility rate per woman in the 27-member bloc dropped to 1.38 live births in 2023, down from 1.46 in 2022, well below the “replacement level” at 2.1 at which a population is stable. In 1968, a record of 6.8 million children were born in the bloc, almost twice as many as in 2023, according to Eurostat.
The declining fertility rates according to experts may mean that the continent’s population rapid ageing may be irreversible, leading to labor shortages and the social security system coming under pressure.
In 2023, Bulgaria had the highest total fertility rate at 1.81, followed by France with 1.66 and Hungary at 1.55. At the other end of the scale was Malta, with 1.06 live births per woman, followed by Spain with 1.12 and Lithuania with 1.18. Greece has also been registering a decline and stands towards the bottom with 1.26 children per woman, when in 2008 the number was 1,50 and 2,09 at the beginning of the 1980s. At the same time, the mean age at which women have their first child continued to rise, standing at 29.8 years, up from 28.8 in 2013.
A rapidly ageing population in the EU and Greece while births decline
Between 2003 and 2023, the number of people over 80 increased by 2.3 percent to 6 percent, up from 3,7 percent two decades ago.
Greece, according to Eurostat, registered the highest increase (3.3 percent), from 3.8 percent in 2003 to 7.1 in 2023, followed by Latvia, whose population over 80 stands at 6 percent of the country’s total population. Sweden registered the smallest increase, with 5.5 percent of its population being over 80.
Another way Eurostat analyzes the ageing of the European Union’s population is its median age, which has increased from 39 years in 2003 to 42,2 in 2013 and 44,5 in 2023. This means that median age across the EU has increased by 5.5 years within two decades.
The highest median age was recorded in Italy (48.4 years), followed by Portugal (47 years), Bulgaria (46.8 years) and Greece (46.5 years). Cyprus had the lowest median age at 38,4 years, followed by Ireland at 39.1.