Définition
Total period fertility measures the number of children a woman would have in the course of her life if the fertility rates observed at each age in the year in question remained unchanged.
Remarque
It should not be forgotten that the rates used in the calculation are those observed over a given year for the whole female population (composed of several generations) and therefore do not represent the rates for an actual generation of women. It is probable that no actual generation will have the observed rates at each age. Reproduction rates therefore serve only to give an overview of the demographic situation over a given year, without being able to draw any certain conclusions from them as to the future of the population.