Eurostat data shows that the birth rate in the EU has significantly decreased, reaching 7.9 in 2024. Romania had the largest decline in the total fertility rate.

According to Eurostat, Europeans have had half as many children in the last six decades, and in 2024, the EU recorded 3.55 million births, with a crude birth rate of 7.9 births per 1,000 people. In comparison, the rate was 10.5 in 2000 and 16.4 in 1970. The total fertility rate in the EU was 1.34 births per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1.

Bulgaria had the highest fertility rate (1.72), while Romania recorded the largest decline, from 1.54 in 2023 to 1.39 in 2024. The average age of women at the birth of their first child has increased to 29.9 years, and nearly half of the children born in 2024 were firstborns. Additionally, 68% of the children born in Luxembourg were from mothers born abroad, in contrast to Bulgaria and Romania, where 97% of births were to native mothers. This declining birth rate trend reflects the demographic and social changes in Europe.