In one century, the peak of births has shifted from winter to summer and has diminished

In 2019, 753,000 babies were born in France. July is the month with the most births, as every year since 2013. It has not always been so.

In one century, the seasonality of births has almost been reversed. From the 1850s until the Second World War, the peak of births was between February and April. The peak shifted to spring during the baby boom and then, since the 1990s, to early summer. It has also diminished.

On the other hand, until the end of the baby boom, births were the less numerous in the fall. This low point began to fade in the 1980s. It also shifted towards winter. In 2019, the lowest points were in March and April.

The distribution of births by day during the week has also changed. Between the end of the 1960s and the 1990s, fewer and fewer births took place on weekends due to their medicalization. Since 1997, the number of births during the weekend has been on the rise again, but Saturdays and Sundays remain the days with the fewest births.