France records more deaths than births for first time since end of second world war

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 2 min read 100% complete by Ashifa KassamJanuary 14, 2026 at 02:30 PM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

France has recorded more deaths than births for the first time since the end of World War II, according to data released by the national statistics institute Insee. In 2025, there were 651,000 deaths and 645,000 births across the country. The fertility rate in France has dropped to 1.56 children per woman, its lowest rate since the end of World War I. This represents a 24% decline from the 2.01 rate registered 15 years ago. The data suggests that financial costs, worries about the future of society, and difficulties balancing work and family life are contributing factors to the declining birthrate. France's population is expected to continue shrinking as an ageing population increases the cost of pensions and elderly care.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

First World War 40% Bulgaria 40% National Assembly 50% National Rally 50% Sylvie Le Minez ×260% Second World War 60% Insee ×270% European Union ×370% France ×990%

Keywords

death rate 90% birth rate 90% demographic decline 80% fertility rate 70% ageing population 70% population decline 60% net migration 50% financial costs of raising children 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.40

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

France

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

death rate birth rate demographic decline fertility rate ageing population population decline net migration financial costs of raising children

Explore Full Topic Graph