In 2022, 113,593 births were recorded in Belgium. That is 3,046 fewer births than the average for the period 2018-2021, or a 2.6% decrease. Regional differences are significant: the figures show a rather slight decrease in the Flemish Region (-1.4%) and the Walloon Region (-1.3%) and a substantial drop in the Brussels-Capital Region (-10.3%) compared to the period 2018-2021. This is what emerges from the figures of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
This publication compares the number of births in 2022 with the average number of births for the period 2018-2021. The evolution of the number of women of childbearing age and the population structure were not taken into account. Further scientific research must show their impact on the number of births.
The year 2022 registers 2.6% fewer births than the average for the period 2018-2021
113,593 births were registered in 2022. That is 3,046 fewer births than in the period 2018-2021, when an average of 116,639 births were recorded per year, or a 2.6% decrease.
Slight decrease in Flanders and Wallonia, significant drop in Brussels
Behind the evolution in the number of births are large regional differences.
In the Flemish Region, 63,284 births were registered. That is 867 fewer than the average number of births in 2018-2021, or a 1.4% decline.
35,565 births were registered in Wallonia. That is 482 fewer births than the average number in the period 2018-2021, or a 1.3% decrease.
Finally, the Brussels-Capital Region recorded 14,744 births. That is 1,698 fewer births than the average for the 2018-2021 period. Consequently, Brussels has the sharpest decline in the number of births of all regions with 10.3% compared to the same reference period.
Large variation throughout the year
Large differences between months were also noted in 2022. In the first half of the year, we see that the number of births does not deviate too much from the average number of births in the period 2018-2021, fluctuating between +2.5% and -3.5%. In the second half of the year, a decrease is observed every month compared to the same reference period, varying between -2.9% and -6.7%.
However, these variations on a monthly basis should be interpreted with caution. Rather unusual fluctuations in the number of births per month were observed at the end of 2020 and in 2021, this presumably due to the coronavirus pandemic. This period is part of the 2018-2021 reference period and thus affects to some extent the average number of births per month in this period.