Fewer births - Number of births in the Southwest at a low
In Baden-Württemberg, fewer children were born in the past year than in almost a decade. According to the Statistical State Office, the number of births fell below the 100,000 mark for the first time since 2014. Therefore, approximately 98,400 babies were born in 2023. This corresponds to an average birth rate per woman of 1.44. The birth rate had been 1.50 in 2022 and 1.63 in the previous year. The reasons for the decline were various, as statisticians report. Recently, the compatibility of family and work has deteriorated, for example, due to the shortage of childminders and caregivers and the resulting limited childcare. Financially motivated considerations also played a role.
Noteworthy are significant regional differences in birth rates: In the Rottweil district, the most babies were born on average with 1.75 children per woman. Following this are the districts of Tuttlingen and Calw with 1.69 each. At the bottom of the scale were the cities Heidelberg with a birth rate of only 0.94, followed by Stuttgart (1.12) and Freiburg and Karlsruhe (each 1.15). There is still a traditional, but no longer uniform, "city-rural divide".
The decline in birth rates in Baden-Württemberg can be traced back to several factors, including the compatibility of family and work, which has deteriorated due to a shortage of childminders and caregivers. Ms. from the Statistical State Office mentioned that financially motivated considerations also contributed to this trend. The birth rate in the Southwest region was significantly lower in 2023 compared to previous years, with only 98,400 babies born, marking a stark contrast to 2014 when the number was much higher. The birth rate statistic for women in Baden-Württemberg stood at a low level of 1.44 in 2023.
