Road to extinction? Europe's birth rates hit rock bottom. These are the least fertile countries

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Road to extinction? Europe's birth rates hit rock bottom. These are the least fertile countries  While parents should have at least two babies to keep Europe's population stable, current birth rates barely exceed one. Will the new wave of over-60-year-old boomer fathers save the continent?  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/07/18/road-to-extinction-europes-birth-rates-hit-rock-bottom-these-are-the-least-fertile-countri  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Is Europe racing towards extinction?

00:07Europe's latest birth rates paint a bleak picture. The 2024 figures are some of the worst in decades,

00:14if not on record. In Germany, the fertility rate dropped to 1.35 children per woman,

00:20the lowest since 1994, which came off the back of a recession period.

00:26Researchers clearly said the only reason why the population didn't shrink last year was because

00:32of migration. Migration also slowed the population decline in Italy, but not enough to prevent a

00:38decrease. Italy's 2024 birth rate was 1.18, a record low. For every 1000 people, only 6 babies were

00:47born, while 11 people died. In neighboring France, which is traditionally one of Europe's most fertile

00:53nations, numbers are also dropping fast. Its fertility rate in 2024, at 1.62, was the lowest

01:01since the end of the First World War. Even the wealthy Northern European countries are suffering

01:07a decline in births, with Finland notably reporting the lowest fertility rate since 1776. Poland holds

01:15one of the bottom spots with only 1.1. England and Wales represent an exception with a tiny 0.6% growth,

01:24thanks to a surprising rise in babies born to fathers over 60 years old.

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