Dutch birth rate plummets 16% in the last 10 years

Women in the Netherlands are continuing to have fewer children, with the number of live births per woman falling from 1.71 to 1.43 in the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

The birth rate fell more sharply in urban than rural areas and declined overall in 93% of the 342 local council areas.

The national birth rate has been falling since 2010, particularly in the Netherlands’ major cities, as well as Limburg, Noord Brabant, and the coastal areas of Noord and Zuid Holland.

In 2024, women were on average 30.4 years old at the birth of their first child. The average age women have their first child is higher in large cities – namely Amsterdam, Utrecht and Haarlem where the average age is over 32.

Of all children born in 2024, 46% were the mother’s first child, 37% were second children and 17% were third or successive children.

Families with three or more children are more likely to reside in the “Bible Belt” – the strip of land stretching from Zeeland to Friesland, home to the largest number of conservative Protestants in the country.