According to figures published on Monday by the Federal Statistics Office Statbel, the birth rate in Belgium fell by 3% in 2023 compared with 2022. In 2023 Belgium’s birth rate was at its lowest level since 1942. The fall in the birth rate follows the general trend of recent years. Not only are fewer children being born, but the average number of children being born to the same mother is also down.
The number of children being born in Belgium has been decreasing for many years. In 2023 110,198 children were born in Belgium. This is the lowest number of births in the country since 1942 when there were 105,749 births. The 2023 figures are 3% down on the 113,593 births that were registered in Belgium in 2022.
The fall in the birth rate is most pronounced in the Brussels-Capital Region (-5.1%) and in Wallonia (-4.1%). In Flanders the birth rate was down by a more modest 1.5% on the figures from 2022.
Where previously the fall in the birth rate was only noticible among mothers of Belgian descent, in 2023 both mothers with foreign roots (-2.3%) and mothers with their roots here in Belgium (-3.2%) were having fewer babies.
Fewer babies per mother
Women are also having fewer babies. In 2023 the average woman in Belgium had 1.47 children, down from an average of 1,53 in 2022.
The figure is lower still in the Brussels-Capital Region (1.36), while in Flanders (1.48) and Wallonia (1.50) the figures are close to the national average. However, mothers with foreign roots that live in Flanders are still having an average of more than two children each (2.1 children per mother).
Age remains stable
The average age at which women are becoming a mother for the first time has remained stable at 29.6 years. The oldest first-time mums are to be found in Walloon Brabant. There on average women give birth for the first time when they are 31.1
86.4% of new mothers lived with their partner when their child was born. However, just 45% were married.