from germany birth rate Fell to its lowest level since World War II in 2025.
according to Preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis)About 655,000 live births were recorded in 2025, while about 680,00 in 2024.
More than one million deaths were recorded in the country last year. This brings the birth deficit to nearly 350,000, setting another record.
Birth rate decline in Germany for the fourth year
Last year was the fourth consecutive year of decline in the birth rate and the lowest level since 1946.
Germany’s current replacement rate is 1.35 children per woman, a record low and well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.
Destatis attributes this trend to the relatively small birth cohorts born in the 1990s entering the critical fertile age of the 30s, as well as a decline in the total fertility rate from 2022 onwards.
As in previous years, the number of births in 2025 fell more sharply in 2024 in the East German states (-4.5%) than in the Western states (-3.2%).
Contrary to the trend, Hamburg was the only German state with an increase in the birth rate, rising by 0.5% in 2025.
Dastatis Long Term ProjectionsExtrapolated to 2070, found that the population could decline by about 10%. The report concludes that immigration will not offset the decline.
Family association: Low birth rate is a ‘wake up call’
The German Family Association described the figures as a “dramatic alarm bell”. Federal executive director Sebastian Heymann told the evangelical press service on Tuesday that the decline in birth rates is not a historical coincidence, but the result of decades of structural discrimination against families.
“Our social security system, especially statutory pensions, effectively penalizes parents for raising children, leaving them empty-handed in old age. Mothers in particular,” Heymann explained.
Since policymakers have failed for decades to increase benefits such as parental allowances and ignored the specific needs of families with many children, they should not be surprised by the decline in birth rates, he said.
He emphasized family-friendly reforms to the social security system and real parent pensions, which would put the intergenerational contract back on solid footing.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru