This November, there were around 100 fewer births in Estonia than during the same month in 2023. According to experts, Estonia’s birthrate began to drop in 2021 and 2024 is likely to see the country’s birthrate reach a record low.
A board on the wall of the maternity ward at the East Tallinn Central Hospital (ITK) shows the number of babies born there each day during the year. When ETV news show “Aktuaalne kaamera” visited the maternity ward at noon on Friday, there had still not been a new baby born yet that day.
“Young families are certainly calculating things a bit more and planning ahead, so the birth of third and fourth children may be delayed a bit,” said Vivian Arusaar, head of midwifery at the ITK Women’s Clinic.
By the end of November 2024, 1,000 fewer babies had been born in Estonia than at the same point last year. According to Statistics Estonia, the birth rate began to fall sharply in 2021.
“The number of births has been on a downward trend for a very long time. However, between 2021 and 2022, the change was particularly sharp, and it is in the last few years that we have seen the lowest birth rates. While in 2021 there was an average of 1,100 births per month, in 2024 there will be an average of 800 births per month,” said Terje Trasberg, team leader for education and population statistics at Statistics Estonia.
According to Trasberg, birth rates have been falling across Europe. Finland and Lithuania, as well as Spain, Italy and Malta, have even worse birth rates than Estonia. Meanwhile, Latvia and Sweden have higher birth rates than Estonia. The birth rate coefficient shows the number of children per woman.
Population researcher Mare Ainsaar said birth rates are influenced both by the number of women of childbearing age and by behavior – in other words, whether or not people want to have children. No major increase in fertility is expected, she said.
“Fertility could also increase without a change in people’s behavior, if we have more women of childbearing age. But the question is where they ought to come from, and the quickest way is immigration. The natural demographic situation in Estonia, or our population pyramid, does not suggest that we can expect to have bigger generations in the future,” Ainsaar said.
According to Ainsaar, the current decline in the birth rate is largely affected by young families’ uncertainty about the future.
—
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Author :
Publish date : 2024-12-20 08:54:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
The post Number of births in Estonia likely to be at record low in 2024 | News first appeared on Love Europe.
Author : love-europe
Publish date : 2024-12-20 18:21:16
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.