Declining since 2015, the total fertility rate stood at 1.84 children per woman in 2020. The average age at childbearing continues to rise steadily in France.
- France remains, in 2018, the most fertile country in the European Union.
- Life expectancy has decreased significantly compared to 2019 (–0.4 years for women and –0.5 years for men).
During the year 2020, the French population increased by 0.3%, according to a new INSEE study. Half of this increase is due to the natural balance (+ 82,000 people), the difference between the number of births and deaths. “It has fallen sharply due to the sharp increase in deaths linked to the Covid-19 pandemic”, specify the experts from Insee.
740,000 babies were born in France
In 2020, 740,000 babies were born in France. In decline since 2015, the total fertility rate stood at 1.84 children per woman in 2020. In 2018, France remained the most fertile country in the European Union.
The average age at childbearing continues to increase steadily: it reaches 30.8 years in 2020, against 29.3 years twenty years earlier. The most fertile women are those between 25 and 34 years old. However, the fertility rate of women under 30 has been falling since the 2000s, and this decline has been accentuated since 2015. In 2020, 100 women aged 25 to 29 give birth to 10.6 children, compared to 12, 9 in 2010 and 13.4 in 2000. The decline in the fertility rate of women aged 30 to 34 is more recent: 12.5 children per 100 women in 2020 compared to 13.3 in 2010.
Life expectancy decreases sharply compared to 2019
That same year, 658,000 people died in France, 7.3% more than in 2019. “The Covid-19 pandemic particularly affected deaths in the spring and at the end of the year”, analysts decipher. Life expectancy at birth is 85.2 years for women and 79.2 years for men. It is down sharply compared to 2019 (–0.4 years for women and –0.5 years for men). The decline is much greater than in 2015, a year marked by severe winter flu (–0.3 years and –0.2 years).
Finally, 148,000 marriages were celebrated in 2020, a figure down 34% compared to 2019, the pandemic having prevented celebrations from taking place or prompted them to be postponed due to the limitation of the number of guests.
On January 1, 2021, France had 67.4 million inhabitants.
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