The birth rate is the lowest in two decades in Sweden-Xinhua
People celebrate the Midsummer Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 25, 2022. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua)
During the first four months of this year, the number of births fell to 35,467 children, according to Statistics Norway. It was 2,483 fewer than the same period last year and also the lowest level in the last 20 years.
STOCKHOLM, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — Births in the spring of 2022 in Sweden reached the lowest level in more than two decades, according to figures from Statistics Sweden on Sunday.
Between January and April this year, 1.57 children were born per woman, compared to 1.69 children in the same period last year, the figures showed.
– It is a surprisingly strong decline in the statistics, said Gunnar Andersson, demography professor at Stockholm University, to Sveriges Television on Sunday.
When people were housebound during the covid-19 pandemic, childbirth increased to 1.69 children per woman, but in the first four months of this year, the number of births fell to 35,467 children, according to Statistics Norway. It was 2,483 fewer than the same period last year and also the lowest level in the last 20 years.
People spend their time under cherry blossoms in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 22, 2022. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua)
– In the short term, there may be random variations like in January. But the level has since been significantly lower than before, says Andersson.
Andersson said the sudden decline in fertility could be linked to the mass vaccination campaign against covid-19 that began in spring 2021.
“Many realized that this was the end of the lockdown and working from home, and returned to normal life,” Andersson said.
In the late 1990s, an average of 1.5 children were born per woman, Sweden’s Television reported.
– In the 1990s we had an economic crisis and fewer people chose to have children, Andersson said.
The photo taken on May 6, 2021 shows a sign asking people to keep social distance in a subway compartment in Stockholm, Sweden’s capital. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua) ■