Belgium reports lowest birth rate since 1942

Belgium‘s birth rate has fallen to its lowest rate since the Second World War, with 108,150 births registered last year, according to Statbel, the Belgian statistics office.

This marks a 1.9% decline on 2023, when 110,198 births were recorded, and is the lowest birth rate since 1942.

Belgium’s birth rate has declined steadily since hitting a peak in 2010, the data showed, with just five years recording a lower birth rate than 2024: 1916, 1917, 1918, 1941 and 1942 – all years that were impacted by war.

Apart from aside a small rebound in 2021, which was attributed to post-pandemic catch-up, the decline in births has persisted, Statbel noted.

While the decline in birth rate is consistent across Belgium, it varies by region, with the birth rate in Wallonia (-3.9%) well below that of the Brussels region (-1.1%) and Flanders (-0.9%).

Total fertility rate

The total fertility rate was estimated at 1.44 children per woman in 2024, down from 1.47 in 2023. Again, there were differences on a regional basis, with the Brussels region recording the lowest fertility rate, of 1.34, and Wallonia and Flanders reporting 1.43 and 1.48 respectively.

The total fertility rate is defined as the ‘average number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year’, Statbel noted.

Average age of first-time parents

Elsewhere, the trend of later parenthood has continued, according to Statbel, with the average age of first-time mothers in Belgium standing at 31.4 years in 2024, while the average age of fathers or co-parents was 34.3 years.

In Flanders, mothers were on average 31.3 years old, the data showed, while Wallonia reported an average maternal age of 31.1 years. Brussels reported the highest average age of first-time mothers in Belgium, at 32.3 years.

Among fathers and co-parents, the average age is again highest in Brussels (36.4 years), followed by Wallonia (34.1 years) and Flanders (34.0 years). Read more here.