Germany's birth rate reached lowest level on record in 2025

Germany's birth rate fell to its lowest post-World War II level in 2025. 

According to preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), around 655,000 live births were recorded in 2025, compared to around 680,00 in 2024.

Last year, the country recorded more than one million deaths. This brings the birth deficit to around 350,000, setting yet another record.

Declining birth rates for the fourth year in Germany

Last year marked the fourth consecutive year of decline in the birth rate and the lowest level since 1946.

Germany's current replacement rate is at 1.35 children per woman, which is a record low and far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. 

The Destatis attributes this trend to the entry of the relatively small birth cohorts born in the 1990s into the crucial fertile age of their early 30s, as well as the decline in the total fertility rate since 2022. 

As in previous years, the number of births in 2025 fell more sharply in the eastern German states (-4.5%) than in the western states (-3.2%) compared to 2024.

Contrary to the trend, Hamburg was the only German state with an increase in birth rates, rising 0.5% in 2025. 

Dastatis longterm projections, which extend to 2070, found that the population could shrink by around 10%. The report concludes that immigration will not offset the decline.

Familienverband: Low birth rate is a 'wake-up call'

The German Family Association (Familienverband) has described the figures as a "dramatic wake-up call." The decline of birth rate is not a historical coincidence, but the result of decades of structural discrimination against families, Federal Executive Director Sebastian Heimann told the Evangelical Press Service on Tuesday.

"Our social security system, particularly the statutory pension, effectively punishes parents for raising children by leaving them empty-handed in old age. Especially mothers," Heimann explained. 

Since policymakers have failed for dacades to raise benefits such as parental allowance and have ignored the specific needs of families with multiple children, they should not be surprised by falling birth rates, she added.

She urged for a family-friendly reform of the social security system and a genuine parental pension that would put the intergenerational contract on solid ground again. 

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru