Birth rate keeps decreasing in 2018

Population
Birth rate keeps decreasing in 2018

117,800 babies were born in Belgium in 2018, i.e. a decrease of 1.1 % compared to 2017. This is what emerged from the provisional statistics on births in the year 2018. This statistic is based on the National Register of natural persons, pending detailed information from the statistical bulletins of births.

The mean age of women at childbirth in Belgium is 30.7 years. It is significantly higher in Brussels (31.8 years) than in Flanders and Wallonia (30.6 years and 30.5 years, respectively). The proportion of births to foreign mothers still remains the majority in Brussels, where it stands at 51.6 %. It is only 21.8 % in the Flemish Region and 18.5 % in Wallonia. Finally, the total fertility rate still decreases to 1.61 child per woman. It is also higher in Brussels (1.75) than in the other regions (1.59).