Insee Première · February 2021 · n° 1838

Fertility has declined less in large cities

On average over the period 2016-2018, in France excluding Mayotte, total fertility rate was 1.89 children per woman. It was higher in the northwestern quarter of France, Île-de-France included, in the southeastern quarter, in French Guiana and Reunion Island. Women born abroad had a higher fertility than those born in France; however, except in certain departments of Île-de-France and overseas departments, there was no link between the fertility of an area and their share of the population. Departmental differences therefore essentially reflected those of fertility among women born in France.

In Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur regions, women more often lived without a partner than in other metropolitan regions, but those who lived as a couple had more children.

Fertility was lower in the central municipalities of large agglomerations and women gave birth there on average later.

In ten years, the fertility gaps have narrowed both between regions and between the cities and their surrounding municipalities. On the contrary, the mean ages at childbirth have become more contrasted; they have been continuously increasing in particular in Île-de-France, where they were already higher than in other regions.