The number of newborns decreased by 3.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 After the slight increase observed in 2021, the total fertility rate decreases to 1.53 children per woman. The average age at childbirth slightly increases to 31.2. This is what emerged from the provisional statistics on birth and fertility rates published by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
The number of newborns decreased by 3.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 This is a 2.6% decrease compared to the average of births in the period 2018-2021.
This decrease can be observed in all three regions, but is more pronounced in Brussels (-6%) than in Flanders (-3.7%) or Wallonia (-2.5%). With the exception of the beginning of the year, from March onwards, all months showed a fall in births compared to the previous year. In fact, not a single month exceeded the 10,000 births threshold, something that had not happened since 2002, a year also marked by a particularly low number of births.
While the fall in the birth rate observed at national level is confirmed among Belgian mothers (-5.1%), the same cannot be said for mothers of foreign nationality, for whom the trend is stable (+0.8%).
31.2 years old
According to provisional data, the average age of mothers at childbirth, all ranks combined, has barely risen to 31.2 years. However, this age has been rising steadily since 2000: women are 2 years older at the birth of their child(ren) than they were then. This age is higher in Brussels (32.3) than in Flanders (31.1) and Wallonia (31.0).
Decrease in the total fertility rate
After the slight increase observed in 2021, the total fertility rate (TFR) decreases to 1.53 children per woman in 2022 in Belgium. It is the lowest in the Brussels region (1.46), and particularly among Belgian women, with a score of 1.34 children per woman. Wallonia and Flanders are close to the national values, with a TFR of 1.56 and 1.53 children per woman respectively.