Still fewer babies: the number of births fell by 1.1% in France over the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period of 2025, continuing its downward trend at a slower pace, however, INSEE indicated on Thursday July 30. Between January and June, 313,931 babies were born in France, compared to 317,583 in the first half of 2025, according to provisional data from the National Institute of Statistics.
Over this period, the birth rate fell in almost all regions, with the exception of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and Mayotte. Among the regions with the most births, the number is stable in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the decline is particularly marked in Hauts-de-France (–1%) and Île-de-France (-0.7%).
In the month of June alone, the number of births decreased by 0.7% compared to June 2025. Since 2022, the number of annual births has been at its lowest since the end of the Second World War. It has continued to decline since: – 6.6% in 2023, – 2.8% in 2024 and – 2.3% in 2025.
Over the whole of 2026, births could reach a new historic low. The decline is part of a longer-term trend. In 2025, 644,000 babies will be born, almost a quarter fewer than in 2010, the date of the last peak in births, according to INSEE.
The decline in the birth rate had led the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to call for the “demographic rearmament” of France. To support it, the government has put in place a new compensated birth leave, of a maximum of two months and accessible to each parent since July.
