While the French are having fewer children than before, as in most high-income countries, they are still the European fertility champions, as revealed by Eurostat data (excluding Georgia, which also part of the study).
A podium monopolized by France, Romania and… Iceland!
The fertility rate stands at 1.83 children per woman in France, the highest rate in the European Union ahead of Romania, where it stands at 1.80 children per woman. It is followed by Iceland and the Czech Republic, where women give birth to 1.70 children on average.
Next, the countries of northern Europe are among the most fertile: Denmark (1.68 children per woman), Sweden (1.67) and Ireland (1.63). As our infographic shows, France’s Mediterranean neighbors are among those with the fewest children on the continent.
In Spain and Italy, a woman gives birth to an average of 1.2 children. As for Germany, it is in the EU average with a fertility rate close to 1.5.