One third of Cyprus’ births are from foreign-born mothers

Cyprus continues to have one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU but is one of the EU member states with the highest share of children born to foreign-born mothers, the latest Eurostat report says.

The number of children born to foreign-born mothers – both from other EU countries and from non-EU countries – has been growing in the EU since 2013.

The share of children born to foreign-born mothers differs significantly between member states. In 2019, more than 65 per cent of the children born in Luxembourg were from foreign-born mothers, while in Cyprus, Austria and Belgium this share was around one third.

Nine countries had less than 10 per cent of children born to foreign-born mothers, with Bulgaria, Slovakia and Poland with the lowest share (2 per cent).

In 2019, 4.17 million babies were born in the European Union, continuing a decreasing trend that started after 2008 when 4.68 million children were born in the bloc.

In 2019, France (1.86 live births per woman) was the member state with the highest total fertility rate in the EU, followed by Romania (1.77), Czechia, Ireland and Sweden (all three 1.71), and Denmark (1.70).

The lowest fertility rates were observed in Malta (1.14 births per woman), Spain (1.23), Italy (1.27), Cyprus (1.33), Greece and Luxembourg (both 1.34).

The total fertility rate stood at 1.53 births per woman in the EU in 2019, a small decrease from its recent peak in 2016 (1.57), yet an increase compared with 2001 (1.43). The highest total fertility rate since the start of comparable time series was in 2008, 2010 and 2016 (1.57), in between it fluctuated between 1.51 and 1.57.

The population replacement birth rate is 2.1.