Average of the panel (2025)
8.3
births per 1,000 people
-0.2 vs 2024
Highest
11.2
Iceland
Lowest
6.0
Italy
Countries ranked
37
with a published figure

Data

Birth Rate in Europe by Country (2025) — source data. Eurostat.
# Country live births per 1,000 people Change vs 2024
1 Iceland 11.2 unchanged
2 Montenegro 11.1 -0.1
3 Turkey 10.4 -0.6
4 Denmark 9.9 +0.4
5 Georgia 9.9 -0.8
6 Ireland 9.9 unchanged
7 Norway 9.9 +0.2
8 Albania 9.6 -0.2
9 Luxembourg 9.4 -0.1
10 Cyprus 9.3 -0.7
11 France 9.3 -0.3
12 Belgium 9.2 unchanged
13 Sweden 9.2 -0.1
14 Netherlands 9.1 -0.1
15 Serbia 9.1 -0.1
16 North Macedonia 8.7 -0.1
17 Switzerland 8.6 -0.1
18 Croatia 8.4 +0.1
19 Austria 8.3 -0.1
20 Finland 8.1 +0.3
21 Slovenia 8 +0.1
22 Bulgaria 7.8 -0.5
23 Germany 7.8 -0.3
24 Slovakia 7.8 -0.7
25 Hungary 7.7 -0.5
26 Liechtenstein 7.7 -0.7
27 Portugal 7.7 +0.2
28 Malta 7.5 -0.2
29 Czechia 7.1 -0.6
30 Romania 7 -0.5
31 Estonia 6.8 -0.3
32 Poland 6.5 -0.4
33 Spain 6.5 unchanged
34 Latvia 6.4 -0.5
35 Greece 6.3 -0.3
36 Lithuania 6.1 -0.5
37 Italy 6 -0.3

About this Dataset

Iceland records 11.2 live births per 1,000 people in 2025, Italy 6.0. That 5.2-point spread looks modest, but at the bottom of the table it is the difference between a population that shrinks slowly without migration and one that shrinks fast.

The crude birth rate is the number that actually drives school enrolments, paediatric capacity and, three decades out, the size of the workforce. Fertility explains behaviour; this is the count.

Age structure does much of the work here, which is why the ranking does not match the fertility table. Ireland ranks sixth at 9.9 per 1,000 on a fertility rate that is only mid-table, because its population is young. Germany ranks 23rd at 7.8 despite fertility close to the European median, because a large share of German women are past childbearing age. Countries that have combined low fertility with decades of emigration (Italy, Lithuania and Greece) appear at the bottom on both measures.

Every row is the figure published for 2025; no value is carried over from an adjacent year to fill a gap. The chart tracks a fixed panel of 36 countries: those reporting in every year from 2001. The line therefore moves because the countries moved, not because the sample changed.

Country pages: Iceland · Montenegro · Turkey · Denmark · Georgia · Ireland · Norway · Albania · Luxembourg · Cyprus · France · Belgium · Sweden · Netherlands · Serbia · North Macedonia · Switzerland · Croatia · Austria · Finland · Slovenia · Bulgaria · Germany · Slovakia · Hungary · Liechtenstein · Portugal · Malta · Czechia · Romania · Estonia · Poland · Spain · Latvia · Greece · Lithuania · Italy

Frequently Asked Questions

The crude birth rate counts live births per 1,000 people in the total population, so it is affected by age structure as well as by how many children women have. The total fertility rate estimates births per woman and strips out age structure. A country with a young population can post a respectable birth rate on a low fertility rate, and an ageing country with more women past childbearing age posts a low birth rate even when fertility holds steady. Use fertility for behaviour, the birth rate for how many babies actually arrive.

Iceland, at 11.2 live births per 1,000 people in 2025, ahead of Montenegro, Turkey and Denmark. The countries near the top tend to combine relatively young age structures with sustained immigration of people in their twenties and thirties.

The panel average was 8.3 births per 1,000 people in 2025, -0.2 on the previous year. The chart puts that in context: the decline is gradual year to year but relentless over the 25-year window, and it compounds. Fewer births now means fewer potential mothers in twenty-five years, which is why demographers treat the current trough as a structural rather than a cyclical event.