In 2024, the European Union recorded 3.55 million births, representing a 3.3% decrease compared to 2023, while the overall fertility rate for the year was 1.34 live births per woman in the EU, a reduction from 1.38 in 2023. In North Macedonia, the fertility rate has also been declining over the past decade, moving from 1.52 in 2004 and 2014 to 1.49 in 2023 and 1.44 live births per woman in 2024. This fertility rate is significantly below the 2.1 live births per woman needed for natural population renewal, leading to serious demographic challenges for Europe and our country.
Eurostat data indicates that Malta had the lowest fertility rate in 2024 at 1.01, while Bulgaria had the highest at 1.72. The average age of women giving birth to their first child in the EU in 2024 was 29.9 years, ranging from 26.9 in Bulgaria to 31.9 in Italy. In North Macedonia, women typically give birth to their first child at 27.8 years.
Over the past two decades, women have increasingly given birth later in life, shifting from 26.6 in 2014 to 25 in 2004. Bulgaria recorded the highest overall fertility rate in the EU in 2024 with 1.72 live births per woman, followed by France with 1.61 and Slovenia with 1.52. Conversely, Malta had the lowest fertility rate of 1.01 live births per woman, alongside Spain with 1.10 and Lithuania with 1.11.
Eurostat data shows that nearly twice as few children were born in the EU in 2024 compared to six decades ago. In 2024, 3.55 million children were born, corresponding to a crude birth rate of 7.9. This crude birth rate in the EU was 10.5 in 2000, 12.8 in 1985, and 16.4 in 1970.
In North Macedonia, the number of live births has remained relatively stable since 1960, with 44,095 births in 1960, 37,862 in 1970, 35,401 in 1990, 29,308 in 2000, 24,296 in 2010, and a record low of 16,061 in 2024.
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