Insee Première · July 2026 · n° 2121

Decline in Births Since 2010: Major Cities’ Outskirts Proving More Resilient

Between 2010 and 2022, the number of births dropped by 14% in France excluding Mayotte and fell by a further 11% between 2022 and 2025, as fertility reached its lowest level in a century. The extent of this decline varied considerably across territories.

In almost four in ten departments, located mainly in northern and central France, births declined due to three factors: a fall in fertility, a decrease in the number of women of childbearing age linked both to changes in the demographic structure and to residential mobility. Conversely, in more attractive departments, particularly along parts of the Atlantic coast and in the Île-de-France and Lyon regions, the inflow of residents of childbearing age cushioned this decline.

Across functional areas, the same contrast was observed: births sharply declined in smaller areas (fewer than 200,000 inhabitants) due to a lack of demographic renewal, while the attractiveness of the largest areas (more than 700,000 inhabitants) partially offset the drop in fertility. Within those largest areas, births shifted from core to surrounding municipalities, driven by families' residential mobility patterns.