Insee Focus · September 2022 · n° 274

Despite the pandemic context, births increased in 2021 after six years of decline

In 2021, 742,100 babies were born in France, 0.9% more than in 2020. This increase put an end to six years of decline in the number of births between 2015 and 2020.

The drop in births at the beginning of 2021, nine months after the first lockdown, was subsequently offset, as births temporarily increased in March and April 2021, and then more sustainably from August, nine months after the second lockdown. In January 2022, births fell again, nine months after the third lockdown, and increased temporarily in February. The three lockdowns therefore did not have the same impact on births, but they did have one thing in common: when they ended, conceptions accelerated.

The impact of lockdowns was not the same at all ages. The youngest women had fewer children during lockdown, without compensation the following months. For women in their thirties, and even more so for those in their forties, the strong rebounds after the lockdowns more than compensated for the declines.