I decided to take the 5 years’ average rather than a snapshot from 1 single year, as fertility rates are notoriously variable from one year to the next.
Generally speaking, there is no single factor that can explain differences in TFR (total fertility rates) between different countries. There is a number of cultural, demographic, and economic factors at play.
For example, the Nordic countries have historically (in the last 40 years) had some of the highest TFR in the whole continent. However, TFR in Finland has tanked in the past decade. This, according to some commenters, has been due to the country’s economic stagnation. IMHO it’s primarily due to the [tempo effect](https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/data/demographic-data-sheets/european-demographic-data-sheet-2006/tempo-effect-and-adjusted-tfr) which is the underestimation of fertility due to the fact that many women choose to postpone births. There are signs that Finland’s TFR is picking up again.
OTOH, countries like France, the UK, and Ireland have a consistently high TFR primarily due to cultural factors; the opposite is true for Spain, Italy, Greece and Poland.
Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria have had a very inconsistent TFR evolution since the fall of the Wall, with no clear trend yet apparent, although fertility has been somewhat increasing since the lows of the 1990s.
Denmark, Sweden, and to a lesser degree Germany and Austria are (partial) success stories of countries that used to have very low TFRs in the 1980s but have been improving since then, with highs and lows in the meantime.
Contrary to common opinion, immigrants have a relatively limited impact on fertility rates – usually increasing it of a .1-.2 point and no more. Total country or region-wide TFR always follow the pattern of the native group, unless you’re in places like Texas or California where minorities make up for almost half of the population AND have a significantly higher TFR than the natives, which is not necessarily the case in some European countries.
This is the average TFR in the same time period for other non-EU developed countries:
Canada 1,50
United States 1,73
Iceland 1,73
Norway 1,58
Switzerland 1,51
Israel 3,04
Japan 1,39
South Korea 0,99
Taiwan 1,08
Australia 1,70
New Zealand 1,75
[deleted]
How was Germany divided exactly here?
D.E.P. Españita
Youth demographic would probably overlap straight on top
We all know what’s increasing the number in Eastern Slovakia and Borsod
Curious how it’s high in Paris and London despite usually urbanization would be associated with a lower birth rate since living in smaller spaces means children are more of a hassle.
9 comments
[Source: Eurostat, fertility rate statistics](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_r_frate2/default/table?lang=en).
weird colour coding
A comment by myself.
I decided to take the 5 years’ average rather than a snapshot from 1 single year, as fertility rates are notoriously variable from one year to the next.
Generally speaking, there is no single factor that can explain differences in TFR (total fertility rates) between different countries. There is a number of cultural, demographic, and economic factors at play.
For example, the Nordic countries have historically (in the last 40 years) had some of the highest TFR in the whole continent. However, TFR in Finland has tanked in the past decade. This, according to some commenters, has been due to the country’s economic stagnation. IMHO it’s primarily due to the [tempo effect](https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/data/demographic-data-sheets/european-demographic-data-sheet-2006/tempo-effect-and-adjusted-tfr) which is the underestimation of fertility due to the fact that many women choose to postpone births. There are signs that Finland’s TFR is picking up again.
OTOH, countries like France, the UK, and Ireland have a consistently high TFR primarily due to cultural factors; the opposite is true for Spain, Italy, Greece and Poland.
Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria have had a very inconsistent TFR evolution since the fall of the Wall, with no clear trend yet apparent, although fertility has been somewhat increasing since the lows of the 1990s.
Denmark, Sweden, and to a lesser degree Germany and Austria are (partial) success stories of countries that used to have very low TFRs in the 1980s but have been improving since then, with highs and lows in the meantime.
Contrary to common opinion, immigrants have a relatively limited impact on fertility rates – usually increasing it of a .1-.2 point and no more. Total country or region-wide TFR always follow the pattern of the native group, unless you’re in places like Texas or California where minorities make up for almost half of the population AND have a significantly higher TFR than the natives, which is not necessarily the case in some European countries.
This is the average TFR in the same time period for other non-EU developed countries:
Canada 1,50
United States 1,73
Iceland 1,73
Norway 1,58
Switzerland 1,51
Israel 3,04
Japan 1,39
South Korea 0,99
Taiwan 1,08
Australia 1,70
New Zealand 1,75
[deleted]
How was Germany divided exactly here?
D.E.P. Españita
Youth demographic would probably overlap straight on top
We all know what’s increasing the number in Eastern Slovakia and Borsod
Curious how it’s high in Paris and London despite usually urbanization would be associated with a lower birth rate since living in smaller spaces means children are more of a hassle.