Insee Focus · September 2023 · n° 307

In 2022, births at their lowest since the end of the Second World War

In 2022, 726,000 babies were born in France, 2.2% fewer than in 2021. This is the lowest number of births since the end of the Second World War. Births were 20.8%  lower than the post-war peak in 1971, and 12.8%  lower than in 2010, the last high point before a new downward trend.

After a slight rebound in 2021, the fall in births has resumed in mid-2022, and the first semester of 2023 has confirmed this decline.

Only births from mothers aged 40 or over were not affected by this decline. The fall was greatest for mothers aged 25 to 34, the ages at which women are most fertile. Births fell in almost all regions.