In 2024, the EU’s total fertility rate was 1.34 live births per woman, the lowest level recorded since the time series began in 2001.
Over the past 20 years, the fertility rate has remained consistently below the natural replacement rate of 2.10, varying between 1.34 and 1.57 live births per woman.
Of the 1 165 EU regions at level 3 of the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) with available data, 439 regions (37.7%) recorded total fertility rates below the EU average in 2024, 714 regions (61.3%) recorded rates above the EU average and 12 regions matched the EU average.
Source datasets: demo_r_find3 and demo_find
Rates of at least 1.75 live births per woman were observed in 14 regions in both Bulgaria and France, 6 regions in Germany, 3 regions in Slovenia, 2 regions in Hungary, the Netherlands and Romania, and in single regions in Ireland, Greece, Croatia and Slovakia.
By contrast, total fertility rates were particularly low in Spain (most notably in the north-west and certain island regions) and across much of Italy (notably in Sardegna). The lowest rates, below 1.00 live births per woman, were observed in 16 Spanish regions, 7 Polish regions, 5 Italian regions, 3 Greek regions, and 2 regions in Germany and Lithuania.
Would you like to know more about the population in EU regions?
You can explore the population sections in the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition and in the interactive publication Regions in Europe.