French birthrate on the rise after six years of decline

The number of births in France went up in 2021 after dropping for the six previous years, according to the national statistics institute, Insee, which also observed a sharp increase in the number of babies conceived after the two Covid confinements in 2020.

According to Insee, 742,100 babies were born in France in 2021, 6,900, or 0.9 percent more than the year before.

The increase “puts an end to six years of decline in the number of births observed between 2015 and 2020”, wrote the institute.

Looking closer at the numbers, the year was uneven, likely affected by Covid confinements in 2020.

More babies post-confinements

There is a dramatic drop in the number of births through mid-February 2021 – 13.2 percent fewer births in January 2021 compared to 2020. This corresponds to babies conceived during the first Covid confinement from mid-March to the beginning of May 2020.

The pandemic, accompanied by “strong economic uncertainty” meant parents put off plans to have children, explained Insee.

While there was not the same drop in conceptions during the second confinement of November 2020, both confinements were followed by an increase, with a rise in the number of births in March and April 2021 as well as starting in August 2021 through the end of the year.

The number of births in these months were “much higher” than the same months of 2020.

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The number of births went down by 2.9 percent in January 2022, nine months after the third, month-long confinement in April 2021, but went back up in February.

Overall, more babies have been born in the first half of 2022 than the first half of 2021, but still lower than 2020.

Mothers getting older

The 2021 birthrate increased because of older women, with women over 30 giving birth to more babies than those younger.

The number of births to women under 30 went down, in particular those under 25 (-8 percent).

The largest increase was women over the age of 40, who gave birth to 5.3 percent more babies than the year before.

(with AFP)