Fewer births than at any time since 1995 in Saxony

In Saxony, fewer children were born last year than at any time since 1995. According to the State Statistical Office, 24,697 children were born alive. This was around 1,500 or 5.7 percent fewer than in the previous year. The trend towards fewer births, which has been ongoing since 2017, is therefore continuing.

Birth drop repeats itself

In the 1990s, there was already a low birth rate in the state. Between 1992 and 1997, fewer than 30,000 children were born each year. Since 2022, the number of births has slipped below the 30,000 mark again.

The average number of children per woman also fell in 2024. Statistically speaking, every woman aged 15 to under 50 gave birth to 1.22 children. Ten years ago, the figure was 1.57.

Leipzig and Dresden determine development

According to the statisticians, the two major cities of Leipzig and Dresden dominated the trend: more than a third of all children were born there in 2024. There were 4,811 births in Leipzig and 4,097 in Dresden. At 37%, more than a third of women of childbearing age also live in one of the two cities.

At the same time, however, women in Leipzig and Dresden are having fewer children than in the rest of the Free State. Only in the two cities was the average number of children per woman below the Saxon average of 1.22 - in Leipzig at 1.0 and in Dresden at 1.1. In the rural districts, the figure fluctuated between 1.28 in the district of Leipzig and 1.5 in the district of Bautzen.