More children in Germany
The birth rate has never been so high since the reunification of Germany 25 years ago – the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden reported on Wednesday. In 2013, the corresponding figure was 1.42 children.
According to the data presented, an increase was observed in all federal states. Saxony had the highest birth rate (1.57 children per woman). The lowest birth rate was recorded in Saarland (1.35 children per woman).
About 715,000 boys and girls were born in Germany in 2014. A higher number was recorded only twelve years earlier (about 719,000 children were born then). Women aged 29 to 38 realized their previously postponed desire to have a child – that is how statisticians explain the reason for the increased birth rate. At the same time, younger women under the age of 25 gave birth to no fewer children in a year for the first time since 1997, but about the same number as the previous year.
According to dpa, the average age of mothers at childbirth has risen again. Mothers giving birth for the first time in 2014 had an average age of 29.5 years and were thus two months older than mothers who had their first child a year earlier. Children were born to both German women and women with foreign passports. The birth rate for German women rose over the year from 1.37 to 1.42, and for foreign women – from 1.80 to 1.86.