Poland experiences lowest birth rate since WWII
In 2019, 375,000 children were born and 410,000 people died in Poland, Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS) estimates. This means that the birth rate was not only negative but also the lowest since World War II. The population of Poland fell to 38.38 million people.
In the 1950s, over 700,000 children were born in Poland every year. At the end of the next decade, this number dropped to over half a million and in 1983 reached more than 720,000. The least number of children were born in Poland 20 years later – in 2003 it was only 351,100.
Last year, the number of births returned to the level before the introduction of 500+. This service probably accelerated the decision to have another child. The fertility rate increased from 1.29 in 2015 to over 1.4 in 2017-19, which means that there were about 140 children born per 100 women of childbearing age (15-49). However, this level still does not guarantee generational replacement (it would have to be 2.1).
