Belgium birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in Belgium chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in Belgium was 1.47 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 1972. In 1993, the fertility rate was 1.61 — a -8.7% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Belgium	World
1960	2.54	4.69
1961	2.63	4.56
1962	2.59	5.02
1963	2.68	5.31
1964	2.71	5.13
1965	2.61	5.08
1966	2.52	4.97
1967	2.41	4.87
1968	2.31	4.98
1969	2.27	4.88
1970	2.25	4.84
1971	2.21	4.69
1972	2.09	4.55
1973	1.95	4.42
1974	1.83	4.26
1975	1.74	4.07
1976	1.73	3.97
1977	1.71	3.84
1978	1.69	3.77
1979	1.69	3.76
1980	1.68	3.73
1981	1.66	3.71
1982	1.61	3.72
1983	1.57	3.59
1984	1.54	3.57
1985	1.51	3.53
1986	1.54	3.51
1987	1.54	3.48
1988	1.57	3.39
1989	1.58	3.35
1990	1.62	3.31
1991	1.66	3.13
1992	1.65	3.04
1993	1.61	2.97
1994	1.56	2.92
1995	1.56	2.87
1996	1.59	2.82
1997	1.6	2.78
1998	1.6	2.75
1999	1.62	2.72
2000	1.67	2.73
2001	1.67	2.69
2002	1.65	2.66
2003	1.67	2.64
2004	1.72	2.63
2005	1.76	2.61
2006	1.8	2.61
2007	1.82	2.6
2008	1.85	2.6
2009	1.84	2.59
2010	1.86	2.57
2011	1.81	2.55
2012	1.8	2.56
2013	1.76	2.53
2014	1.74	2.52
2015	1.7	2.49
2016	1.68	2.49
2017	1.65	2.46
2018	1.62	2.39
2019	1.6	2.35
2020	1.55	2.28
2021	1.6	2.25
2022	1.53	2.22
2023	1.47	2.2
2024	1.47	2.19
2025	1.48	2.18
2026	1.49	2.18
2027	1.49	2.17
2028	1.5	2.16
2029	1.51	2.15
2030	1.51	2.14
2031	1.52	2.13
2032	1.52	2.12
2033	1.53	2.12
2034	1.53	2.11
2035	1.54	2.1
2036	1.54	2.09
2037	1.54	2.09
2038	1.55	2.08
2039	1.55	2.08
2040	1.56	2.08
2041	1.56	2.07
2042	1.56	2.07
2043	1.57	2.07
2044	1.57	2.07
2045	1.57	2.06
2046	1.57	2.06
2047	1.58	2.06
2048	1.58	2.05
2049	1.59	2.05
2050	1.59	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 1.14% were to women under 20 years old, 37.4% to women ages 20-29, and 61.4% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 3.12%, 67.3%, and 29.6% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in Belgium by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	Belgium	World
1960	23.7%	37.4%
1961	23.8%	37.5%
1962	23.8%	37.6%
1963	23.9%	37.8%
1964	23.9%	38%
1965	24%	38%
1966	24%	38%
1967	23.9%	38%
1968	23.9%	37.9%
1969	23.8%	37.8%
1970	23.6%	37.7%
1971	23.5%	37.6%
1972	23.3%	37.5%
1973	23%	37.3%
1974	22.6%	37.2%
1975	22.2%	37.1%
1976	21.8%	36.9%
1977	21.4%	36.7%
1978	21%	36.3%
1979	20.6%	35.9%
1980	20.3%	35.5%
1981	19.9%	35.2%
1982	19.6%	34.9%
1983	19.4%	34.6%
1984	19.1%	34.3%
1985	18.8%	34%
1986	18.6%	33.8%
1987	18.3%	33.6%
1988	18.2%	33.4%
1989	18.1%	33.2%
1990	18.1%	33%
1991	18.2%	32.9%
1992	18.2%	32.7%
1993	18.1%	32.5%
1994	18.1%	32.3%
1995	18%	32.1%
1996	17.9%	31.8%
1997	17.8%	31.5%
1998	17.7%	31.1%
1999	17.7%	30.8%
2000	17.6%	30.4%
2001	17.5%	30%
2002	17.5%	29.6%
2003	17.3%	29.2%
2004	17.2%	28.8%
2005	17.1%	28.5%
2006	17%	28.1%
2007	16.9%	27.9%
2008	16.9%	27.6%
2009	16.9%	27.5%
2010	16.9%	27.3%
2011	17%	27.1%
2012	17%	27%
2013	17%	26.9%
2014	17%	26.8%
2015	17%	26.6%
2016	17%	26.5%
2017	17%	26.4%
2018	16.9%	26.2%
2019	16.9%	26%
2020	16.8%	25.8%
2021	16.7%	25.6%
2022	16.5%	25.3%
2023	16.3%	25%
2024	16%	24.7%
2025	15.7%	24.4%
2026	15.4%	24.1%
2027	15.1%	23.8%
2028	14.9%	23.4%
2029	14.6%	23.1%
2030	14.4%	22.8%
2031	14.2%	22.6%
2032	14%	22.3%
2033	13.8%	22.1%
2034	13.6%	21.9%
2035	13.5%	21.7%
2036	13.4%	21.6%
2037	13.3%	21.5%
2038	13.3%	21.4%
2039	13.3%	21.3%
2040	13.4%	21.2%
2041	13.4%	21.1%
2042	13.5%	21%
2043	13.5%	21%
2044	13.6%	20.9%
2045	13.7%	20.8%
2046	13.8%	20.7%
2047	13.8%	20.7%
2048	13.9%	20.6%
2049	13.9%	20.5%
2050	13.9%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in Belgium was 23.7% in 1960, 18.1% in 1993, and 16% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of Belgium.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in Belgium, excluding migration, has been +0.06% annually. On average, 6,434 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Belgium
1960	40,275
1961	52,349
1962	42,414
1963	41,804
1964	51,580
1965	39,748
1966	36,206
1967	31,618
1968	20,199
1969	21,221
1970	23,173
1971	21,281
1972	18,451
1973	11,690
1974	7,818
1975	0
1976	1,964
1977	8,847
1978	7,872
1979	11,818
1980	10,845
1981	11,831
1982	7,885
1983	2,956
1984	4,927
1985	2,958
1986	5,917
1987	11,844
1988	14,853
1989	13,912
1990	19,935
1991	22,010
1992	20,090
1993	14,118
1994	12,139
1995	11,150
1996	12,188
1997	12,218
1998	9,183
1999	9,203
2000	12,302
2001	11,315
2002	7,233
2003	7,263
2004	16,673
2005	15,718
2006	21,096
2007	23,376
2008	22,491
2009	23,752
2010	23,970
2011	25,388
2012	18,882
2013	16,739
2014	21,297
2015	11,274
2016	14,731
2017	10,238
2018	7,999
2019	8,042
2020	-12,692
2021	5,793
2022	-2,336
2023	0

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in Belgium was 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.004% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -50% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Belgium	World
1985	9	460
1986	9	438
1987	9	429
1988	9	414
1989	9	401
1990	9	391
1991	9	395
1992	9	395
1993	9	389
1994	9	382
1995	9	371
1996	9	366
1997	8	358
1998	8	360
1999	8	340
2000	8	328
2001	8	321
2002	7	311
2003	7	301
2004	7	291
2005	7	283
2006	6	276
2007	7	269
2008	6	264
2009	6	258
2010	6	253
2011	6	247
2012	5	239
2013	6	235
2014	5	231
2015	5	228
2016	5	220
2017	5	215
2018	5	211
2019	4	207
2020	4	211
2021	7	242
2022	11	203
2023	4	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in Belgium was 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.36% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Belgium	World
1960	3.39%	18.5%
1961	3.25%	18.1%
1962	3.12%	17.8%
1963	3%	17.5%
1964	2.89%	17.7%
1965	2.79%	17.5%
1966	2.7%	17.3%
1967	2.62%	17%
1968	2.55%	16.5%
1969	2.48%	15.5%
1970	2.39%	15.2%
1971	2.3%	15.1%
1972	2.19%	14.4%
1973	2.08%	14.1%
1974	1.97%	13.7%
1975	1.86%	13.4%
1976	1.76%	13%
1977	1.67%	12.5%
1978	1.59%	12.1%
1979	1.52%	11.7%
1980	1.45%	11.4%
1981	1.39%	11%
1982	1.33%	10.8%
1983	1.27%	10.6%
1984	1.22%	10.4%
1985	1.18%	10.1%
1986	1.14%	9.81%
1987	1.1%	9.47%
1988	1.07%	9.31%
1989	1.03%	9.02%
1990	1%	8.81%
1991	0.96%	8.66%
1992	0.92%	8.46%
1993	0.87%	8.19%
1994	0.82%	7.98%
1995	0.77%	7.76%
1996	0.72%	7.52%
1997	0.67%	7.28%
1998	0.64%	7.05%
1999	0.61%	6.76%
2000	0.59%	6.48%
2001	0.57%	6.21%
2002	0.55%	5.94%
2003	0.53%	5.65%
2004	0.52%	5.43%
2005	0.5%	5.16%
2006	0.49%	4.92%
2007	0.48%	4.7%
2008	0.47%	4.5%
2009	0.46%	4.31%
2010	0.45%	4.11%
2011	0.44%	3.97%
2012	0.43%	3.77%
2013	0.42%	3.61%
2014	0.42%	3.48%
2015	0.41%	3.35%
2016	0.41%	3.23%
2017	0.4%	3.11%
2018	0.4%	2.97%
2019	0.39%	2.86%
2020	0.39%	2.75%
2021	0.38%	2.66%
2022	0.37%	2.59%
2023	0.36%	2.49%