Suceava and Salaj recorded the highest fertility rates in Romania in 2024, according to Eurostat estimates

Suceava and Sălaj recorded the highest fertility rates in Romania in 2024, at 1.81 and 1.80 children per woman, respectively, according to Eurostat estimates. They are the only two counties to reach the 1.75 threshold, in a national comparison in which Ilfov is at the opposite end, with 1.09. The regional analysis presented by Eurostat on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, shows significant differences within Member States, while the EU fertility rate stood at 1.34 children per woman.

In brief

Suceava had a fertility rate of 1.81 children per woman, while Sălaj had 1.80 in 2024. They are the only two Romanian counties with values of at least 1.75; Eurostat marks the data as estimates.

Ilfov had the lowest value, at 1.09, followed by Mehedinți, with 1.16, and Gorj, with 1.17. Bucharest recorded 1.23, while Cluj recorded 1.22.

The fertility rate in the EU was 1.34 in 2024, the lowest in the series that began in 2001. Neither Suceava nor Sălaj reached the level of approximately 2.1 children per woman associated with the natural replacement of generations.

The comparison in Eurostat’s release covers 1,165 regions: 714 above the EU average, 439 below average, and 12 at the same level. Data from 2023 are used for Germany, while the Romanian values refer to 2024.

The total fertility rate is a hypothetical indicator based on age-specific rates in a given year, not the number of children already born to each woman. It does not, by itself, explain the causes of differences between counties and is not a forecast of population trends.

The regional data cover the 41 counties and the municipality of Bucharest, the Romanian units at NUTS 3 level in the European statistical classification. Eurostat marks all 42 values for 2024 as estimates. They may be revised as demographic data are updated.

After Suceava and Sălaj, the highest values were recorded in Harghita, with 1.64 children per woman, and Giurgiu, with 1.57. Ialomița and Mureș each had 1.55, Brașov had 1.54, and Covasna had 1.53. All were above the EU level, but below the 1.75 threshold used in Eurostat’s presentation for regions with relatively high fertility.

At the lower end, Ilfov recorded 1.09, Mehedinți 1.16, and Gorj 1.17. They were followed by Vâlcea, with 1.21, Cluj, with 1.22, and Bucharest, with 1.23. The difference between Suceava and Ilfov was 0.72 children per woman.

The total fertility rate expresses the average number of children a woman would have over her reproductive lifetime if she followed the age-specific fertility rates observed in a given year. The indicator allows territories to be compared, but it does not measure the number of children already born to women in a county. It differs both from the annual number of births and from the crude birth rate, which relates births to the total population.

At EU level, the rate fell from 1.38 in 2023 to 1.34 in 2024. Eurostat presents the 2024 value as the lowest since the beginning of the European series in 2001. Over the past two decades, the indicator has ranged between 1.34 and 1.57 children per woman.

Even the counties at the top of the Romanian ranking remain below the level of approximately 2.1 children per woman associated with the natural replacement of generations, in the absence of migration and under conditions of low mortality. Having higher fertility than the EU average therefore does not mean reaching this level.

In the comparison published on October 27, Eurostat included 1,165 EU regions. Of these, 714, or 61.3%, were above the European average, 439, or 37.7%, were below average, and 12 equaled it. This distribution uses German data from 2023, while the figures for Romania are from 2024; the release draws on the analysis in the Regional Yearbook 2026 and states that some values may be revised.

The fact that most regions in this comparison exceed the EU level is explained by the calculation method. The European rate is constructed from age-specific fertility rates and the relevant populations, not as a simple arithmetic average of regional values. Regions with small populations and those with many residents do not have the same weight in the European indicator.

In the same Eurostat comparison, Bulgaria and France each had 14 regions with rates of at least 1.75 children per woman. Germany had six, based on its 2023 data, while Slovenia had three. Hungary, the Netherlands, and Romania each had two, while Ireland, Greece, Croatia, and Slovakia each had one.

The highest rates were in the French outermost regions of Mayotte, with 3.51 children per woman, and French Guiana, with 3.10. Réunion had 2.11, while the Bulgarian regions of Sliven and Yambol recorded 2.58 and 2.42. These are the five EU regions identified by Eurostat with values above the level of approximately 2.1.

At the opposite end, the release indicates rates below 1.00 children per woman in 16 Spanish regions, seven Polish regions, five Italian regions, three Greek regions, and two each in Germany and Lithuania. The German figure also refers to 2023. The lowest value presented by Eurostat for 2024 is 0.76, on the Spanish island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands archipelago.

Eurostat notes relatively low values in some capital regions as well, including Copenhagen, Dublin, Riga, and Budapest, as well as the Amsterdam metropolitan area. In Romania, Bucharest and Cluj are in the lower part of the distribution. However, the data do not establish why counties differ and do not measure the effect of a local policy or family tradition on fertility.

Fertility alone does not determine whether a county’s population grows or declines: age structure, mortality, and migration also matter. For planning nurseries, schools, medical services, or local infrastructure, the fertility rate must be considered together with the number of births, the population by age, and residents’ movements. Values from a single year cannot be directly converted into forecasts of the number of students or budgetary needs.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/suceava-si-salaj-au-cele-mai-ridicate-rate-ale-fertilitatii-din-romania-in-timp-ce-media-ue-coboara-la-1-34-copii-per-femeie