On Wednesday, the Study Centre for Perinatal Epidemiology revealed that 2022 saw 60,525 newborns delivered in Flemish hospitals. This represented a 3.7% decrease on the previous year and is indicative of a decade-long decline for Flemish hospital birth rates.
At the start of the new year, the Study Centre for Perinatal Epidemiology undertook a preliminary count of hospital births within the 57 Flemish maternities in 2022, the findings of which were unveiled on Wednesday.
According to the centre, 60,525 infants were delivered in Flemish hospitals. This marks a decline of 2,322 births, or 3.7% fewer than in 2021, which was the first time that the number of births in Flanders had increased in over a decade.
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As a result, these latest figures fall in line with a long-standing decline in Flemish hospital births in the last decade, with 7.6% fewer newborns having been recorded in Flemish hospitals compared to 2013.
Furthermore, the figures showed that all Flemish provinces had recorded fewer hospital births in 2022. The highest decreases occurred in East Flanders (-5.6%) and Antwerp (-4.4%), with Limburg registering the smallest decline at 1.3%.
