Fewer births in France in 2016

Abstract

The number of births fell by 4.5% in France between 2014 and 2016 due to declining numbers of women of reproductive age and a decrease in the total fertility rate (TFR) from 1.97 children per woman in 2014 to 1.89 in 2016. Similar decreases in TFR have occurred in most developed countries, but the drop in France is smaller and occurred later than elsewhere thanks to social and family policies which dampened the impact of the crisis.