The total fertility rate in 2025 stood at 1.32 children per woman, down from 1.42 the previous year. This continues the downward trend since 2022, Destatis announced on Tuesday. The rate was last similarly low in 2006 at 1.33; the historic low was recorded in the mid-1990s at 1.24.
The number of births fell to 654,241 – the lowest post-war figure. The decline was particularly sharp in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (minus 772 births). Lower Saxony had the highest fertility rate at 1.38, while Saxony recorded the lowest at 1.16.
Women with German citizenship had an average of 1.20 children in 2025. For foreign women, the rate was 1.78, also declining. The average age of mothers at birth rose to 31.9 years, and that of fathers to 34.8 years.
In EU comparison, Germany ranked in the middle in 2024 with 1.34 children per woman. Bulgaria had the highest rate (1.72), Malta the lowest (1.01). Between 2019 and 2024, the fertility rate fell by 12 percent across the EU – and by the same margin in Germany.
Source: www.faz.net
