Birth Rate Germany 2025: 1.32 Children per Woman – Lowest Level Since 1997

Among women with German citizenship, the birth rate was 1.20 children. According to the data, a similarly low value was last measured almost 30 years ago in 1996, when a woman on average had 1.22 children. In year-on-year comparison, the birth rate among German women thus fell by 2.8 percent. This means that the figure for German women is now even slightly below the historic low of 1.22 from 1996.

The total fertility rate indicates how many children a woman would have over the course of her life if her childbearing behavior corresponded to that of all women between the ages of 15 and 49 in the year under consideration. The German birth rate has been falling continuously since 2022 – starting from an already low level, the downward trend has thus solidified.

Regional Differences Between East and West

According to the data, there are considerable differences between the federal states: the lowest total fertility rate – to use the statistical term – was calculated last year at 1.16 children per woman in Saxony, and the highest at 1.38 in Lower Saxony. In Saxony, the value had last been lower in 1998 (1998: 1.11), meaning the current figure marks the lowest level in nearly three decades.

"Noch niedriger lag sie Mitte der 1990er-Jahre mit einem Tiefstwert von 1,24 Kindern je Frau", the statisticians explained with regard to the previous all-time low. However, this was measured as a Germany-wide average; individual federal states such as Saxony were already partly significantly below it at that time. A value as low as the current one was last recorded nearly 20 years ago (1.33).

The birth frequency in the eastern states was lower at 1.22 children per woman than in the western federal states at 1.34 children per woman. In eastern Germany, the birth rate was highest in Brandenburg (1.30). The gap between East and West thus persists, even though figures in both parts of the country are moving downward.

Lower Saxony Loses Its Position as Stability Leader

According to the statistics, Lower Saxony has been the state with the highest birth frequency since 2018. However, the figure there also fell below 1.40 for the first time in 16 years (2009: 1.38). This ends a long phase of relative stability in the western federal state, which had previously been regarded as comparatively child-friendly.

In nearly all federal states, fewer children were born in 2025 than in the previous year. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania recorded the steepest decline: the birth rate there fell by 6.3 percent to 1.21 children per woman. Hamburg was the only federal state in which the total fertility rate rose slightly compared to 2024 – by 0.4 percent to 1.24 children per woman.

Hamburg as the Only Federal State with a Slight Increase

The Federal Statistical Office attributed the decline in the absolute number of births, among other factors, to the smaller generation of potential parents born in the 1990s. "Die damals Geborenen bilden die derzeit relativ kleine Generation potenzieller Eltern", the statisticians explained. A demographic drag effect triggered by the post-reunification birth trough thus continues to have an impact.

Demographic Causes: Small Parent Generation from the 1990s

The development affects women with and without foreign citizenship equally, albeit at different levels. While the birth rate among foreign women at 1.78 remains significantly above that of German women, the trend in both groups is converging downward. The difference between the two groups has been shrinking continuously since 2017 – with the exception of 2021.

The current data are the result of final calculations; an initial estimate by the Office had previously assumed approximately 654,300 births for 2025. This confirms the bleak forecast the Office had already issued in spring. The final figures are very close to this preliminary estimate.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, it stood at an average of 1.32 children per woman last year. Compared to 2024, the birth rate thus decreased by 2.7 percent. This news was broadcast on 01.07.2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program.

Implications for Long-Term Population Development

Demographic development has long been regarded as one of Germany's central social challenges. A birth rate of 1.32 is well below the so-called replacement level of approximately 2.1 children per woman, which would be necessary to stabilize the population in the long term without immigration. Without immigration, Germany's population would shrink and age over time.

The statisticians see the demographic structure as a key reason for the ongoing decline. As the high-birth cohorts of the 1960s increasingly move out of childbearing age and the weak cohorts of the 1990s follow, the number of women of childbearing age automatically decreases. This purely structural effect would continue to operate even if the birth rate per woman remained constant.