Births

In 2022, there were 63,284 births (open definition) to women living in the Flemish Region (among the legally resident population (open definition)). There were 32,429 boys and 30,855 girls born. In 2022, almost 2,500 fewer children were born than in 2021 and almost 500 more than in 2020. Compared to the peak year 2010, 6,795 fewer children were born in 2022 (-9.7%).

In 2022, there were again fewer births than deaths in the Flemish Region: 63,284 births compared to 67,528 deaths. This resulted in a negative natural balance (open definition) of -4,244. Also in 2020, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births. There were then 70,919 deaths compared to 62,798 births (negative natural balance of -8,121).

Between 2000 and 2019 and in 2021, there were more and more births than deaths in the Flemish Region. This always resulted in a positive natural balance.

In 2022, slightly more than 1 in 10 newborns (13%) in the Flemish Region had a foreign (non-Belgian) nationality. It was higher in the Brussels-Capital Region (35%), lower in the Walloon Region (9%).

Especially in the Brussels-Capital Region, there were relatively many newborns with the nationality of a country outside the European Union (27%). This share was much lower for the Flemish and Walloon Regions (both 6%).

In 2022, the number of births per 1,000 inhabitants in the Flemish Region was 9.4. This crude birth rate (open definition) was slightly higher in the Walloon Region (9.7 per 1,000 inhabitants) and significantly higher in the Brussels-Capital Region (12 per 1,000 inhabitants).

Since 2010, the crude birth rate has decreased in the 3 regions. Only in 2021 was there a slight increase in the crude birth rate in the Flemish and Walloon Regions.

For the period 2020-2022, approximately 70% of the municipalities had a crude birth rate lower than the average value for the Flemish Region in the same period (9.6 births per 1,000 inhabitants). Of the central cities, Antwerp (13.2), Turnhout (11.9), Ghent (11.6), Mechelen (11.6), Sint-Niklaas (11.1), Leuven (10.4), Roeselare ( 10.0), Kortrijk (10.0) and Aalst (9.9) higher than the Flemish average. Municipalities in the southern region of West Flanders, around the Brussels-Capital Region and in the Northern Kempen also showed an above-average crude birth rate.

The crude birth rate partly reflects the age structure of the population with typically low values in municipalities with an aging population.

The 2021 crude birth rate for the Flemish Region (9.9 births per 1,000 inhabitants) was above the average of 9.1 births per 1,000 inhabitants for the countries of the European Union (EU27).

High values were found in Ireland (12), Cyprus (11.4) and Sweden (11). Low values were mainly found in the southern Member States, with Italy at the bottom (6.8).

EU country figures refer to the population of usual residence (open definition) in each country. No data are yet available for the observation year 2022.