Spain records lowest birth rate in eight decades

Reuters cited data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) on February 21 showing that Spain's birth rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1941, with only 322,075 newborns added to the country's population of 48.6 million in 2023.

Spain's birth rate fell 2% last year compared with 2022, adding to a decline of nearly 25% in a decade. The decline has given Spain the second-lowest birth rate in the European Union (EU), behind Malta, according to Eurostat data.

Eurostat data shows the rate in Spain is 1.19 births per woman compared to the EU average of 1.53, both well below the 2.1 level the current population needs to be maintained.

Demographers and economists have called on Europe to reconsider efforts to boost falling birth rates while some regions in Spain have introduced financial measures and tax deductions to encourage people to start families.

"Having children is no longer a common aspiration in life. Women want to have a career and want to do certain things before starting a family," Marta Seiz, a university professor in Madrid specializing in family sociology, demography and inequality, told Reuters .

Economic instability, unemployment, low-quality jobs and rising housing prices are some of the reasons why Spanish women are having children later or having fewer children than they originally planned, Professor Marta Seiz added. Although Spain has equalised maternity and paternity leave policies, these measures are not enough.

The decline in birth rates is also happening in France. On January 16, the French National Statistics Agency (INSEE) released figures showing that the birth rate in the country in 2023 had fallen to its lowest level since World War II.

According to INSEE, about 678,000 children were born in 2023, down 6.6% from 2022 and the lowest level since 1946. With this number of newborns, the average birth rate in 2023 was 1.68 children per mother, lower than 1.79 in 2022.

Minh Hoa (reported by Hanoi Moi, Vietnam+)

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