Birth Rates In Wealthy Nations Sag Due To Pandemic, Says Study

Birth rates have fallen by almost 10 percent in some wealthy countries since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the US, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: The decline in birth rates in wealthy countries is yet another of the many effects of COVID-19 on the world.

Using monthly live birth numbers from 2016 to March this year, the researchers reported: "preliminary evidence" showing the pandemic has "decreased fertility" in all but 4 of 22 "high-income countries" studied.

The authors, from the University of Oxford, Cornell University, and Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, factored in seasonality and long-term trends, but nonetheless estimated a 9.4 percent fall in Italy and more than 8 percent in Hungary and Spain.

"Belgium, Austria, and Singapore also showed a significant decline in crude birth rates," they said, acknowledging as "received wisdom" the view that pandemics mean fewer babies, with the US being hit by a 13 percent drop after the Spanish Flu a century ago.

There were expectations in some quarters that this pandemic could lead to a baby boom - even in the 22 countries studied, most of which have for decades been reporting low birth rates and aging populations.

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