Belgium’s statistics agency Statbel recorded 117,914 births in 2021 – significantly higher than in 2020 where births slumped as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Births rose by 4.7% in Flanders and 3.9% in Wallonia last year but in Brussels, the birth rate continues to contract, and fell by 1%.
The drop in birth rates was especially pronounced in 2020, which recorded just 113,739 births: a 2.9% decrease from before the pandemic. Though births fell across Belgium, the reduction was most notable in Brussels, where birth rates fell by 6%.
Statbel has also provided more information about the nature of births in 2020. Of those born that year, 7.57% were born prematurely. In total, 0.97% of babies were born before the 32nd week of pregnancy, therefore considered very preterm. Curiously, the average weight of newborns has been increasing slightly, from 3.297kg in 2019 to 3.303kg in 2020.
Related News
- The start of Brussels’ demographic decline?
- 6 in 10 Belgian sperm donor children have biological Danish fathers
The average age of mothers at the birth of their first child is 29.33 years. When accounting for all births (ie. second/third children etc.) the average age of the mother was 31 years old and 34.1 years old for the co-parent.
In the first quarter of 2022, over half (56.3%) of Belgian births were recorded in Flanders, with Wallonia and Brussels lagging far behind Flanders in demographic terms. In 2021, just under 15,600 births were registered in the Brussels region last year, an unsustainable level for maintaining the city's size.
Birth rates remain a cause for concern in Belgium. The birth rate has been steadily declining since the start of the twentieth century. Since 1946, birth rates have dropped by 21%. Fertility rates across Belgium are now 40% less than what they were in 1961.
