The birth rate in Flanders is down again, after a sudden climb in 2021. Flanders saw 60,525 births last year, a drop of 2,322 newly-borns or 3.7 percent on the year. Last year's number equals more or less the birth rate of 2020, as 2021 had particularly high figures.
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Number of births in Flanders has gone down again after a "peak" in 2021
Michaël Torfs
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The decline was most outspoken in East Flanders, with a drop of 5.6 percent on the year, and in Antwerp province (-4.5 percent). Flemish Brabant (-2.5 percent) and West Flanders (-2 percent) follow, while Limburg only had a decline of 1.3 percent.
The general trend over the past 10 years is a downward one. 2022 had 7.6 percent fewer births than 2013. Talking about last year's decline, experts think that the economic crisis is making people think twice about their child wish.