Dutch birth rate plummets 16% in the last 10 years

Women had fewer children in 2024 than in 2014 in 93% of Dutch councils, according to the national statistics office CBS. The birth rate fell more sharply in urban than rural areas.

The total fertility rate (TFR) in the Netherlands gradually decreased from 1.71 per woman in 2014 to 1.43 per woman in 2024. The TFR is used to compare fertility over time and between countries.

The national birth rate has been falling since 2010, according to CBS reports. The total fertility rate was already declining in 2014, particularly in the Netherlands’ major cities, as well as Limburg, North Brabant, and the coastal areas of North and South Holland.

Between 2014 and 2024, the decrease was strongest in Friesland, Flevoland, and South Holland, where the fertility rate fell by 19%. Zeeland saw the smallest decline, at 11%.

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.