Demographic Winter: French Birthrate Falls to Lowest Level Since End of First World War

The birth rate in France fell to its lowest level last year since the end of the First World War, according to official figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

According to the annual INSEE report, there were 663,000 babies born in France in 2024, a decline of 2.2 per cent from the year before and the lowest total number of births since 1946.

The fertility rate also fell to 1.62 children per woman from 1.66 in 2023, far below the 2.1 level of replacement and the lowest recorded since the end of World War I, Le Figaro reports. This comes despite President Macron’s “demographic rearmament” scheme launched last year to increase births.

Although the latest fertility rate for the European Union as a whole in 2022 stood at 1.46, the French National Union of Family Associations (UNAF) noted that this should provide little solace, given that over the last two years, the French rate has declined faster than the majority of fellow EU nations.

The UNAF said that the declining brith rate was “not for lack of desire to have children,” given that people in relationships and of childbearing age told researchers that they would ideally have 2.27 children, but economic, housing, and social factors placed hurdles in front of that goal.

Cécilia Creuzet, a co-founder of a French parental app, found that for her users, particularly women, a work-home life balance was a leading issue, while 34 per cent said that they would have more children if “daily organisation” was simpler and more “nursery places and childcare solutions” were available. She also revealed that over half of her users said that the supposed “climate crisis” served to lessen their desire to have more children.

According to the INSEE statistics, there were 68.6 million people in France and its five overseas departments as of the beginning of the year. This was an increase of 169,000 inhabitants or about 0.25 per cent over 2024.

The vast majority of this population growth was attributed to migration, however, with net migration being provisionally estimated at 152,000.

Because France is officially a “colour blind” society, the demographic figures did not reveal the number of children born in the country to native French women compared to foreign-born mothers.

However, starting this month, France will for the first time begin asking parents to reveal their country of birth on its census. The question will be optional, but leftist groups have already begun to criticise the move.

“This question presents a lot of dangers,” the Human Rights League and the CTG union said in a joint petition against the question. “No public policy justifies our parents’ immigrant origin being collected… The recording of this information is a step towards possible unequal treatment by the state on this basis.”

In other Western European nations there has been a growing difference in the birth rates of native women compared to migrant populations. In 2023, for example, foreign women accounted for 31.8 per cent of all live births in England and Wales, despite migrants only making up around 16 per cent of the population.

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