The number of births in Germany increased last year.

As the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday in Wiesbaden, 795,492 babies were born, around 22,000 (almost three percent) more than in 2020. The so-called total birth rate rose for the first time since 2017: from 1.53 children per woman in 2020 to 1.58 children in the past year.

According to the statistics authority, “the relatively stable situation on the labor market in connection with the special situation during the corona pandemic at the time of conception” may have contributed to this increase.

The total number of births indicates the average number of children that a woman would have in the course of her life if the circumstances of the year under review were to apply from her 15th to her 49th year of life.

Strongest increase in Baden-Württemberg

The birth rate rose in 2021, especially in the western federal states.

The increase was strongest in Baden-Württemberg (five percent), followed by Bavaria and Hesse (four percent each).

In contrast, only small increases of one to two percent were recorded in the eastern German federal states.

In Thuringia and Saxony, the birth rate even fell slightly (minus one percent).

The highest birth rate was measured in Lower Saxony in 2021 with 1.66 children per woman.

It was lowest in Berlin at 1.39.

Among women with German citizenship, the fertility rate in 2021 was 1.49 children per woman, significantly higher than in the previous year (1.43 children).

Among women with foreign nationality, the fertility rate remained almost unchanged at 2.01 children per woman (2020: 2.00 children per woman).