BRUSSELS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday said the total fertility rate in the bloc increased from 1.46 in 2001 to 1.58 in 2015.
According to official data, in 2015, 5.103 million babies were born in the EU, while this number was 5.063 million in 2001.
Among all member states, France recorded the highest fertility rate of 1.96, with 799,700 babies born there in 2015. It was followed by Ireland and Sweden, with the fertility rates of 1.92 and 1.85 respectively.
In contrast, Portugal with a fertility rate of 1.31 ranked the lowest in the EU. It was followed by Cyprus and Poland where the fertility rate was 1.32.
Although the total fertility rate in most member states rose in 2015 compared with 2001 level, a total fertility rate of around 2.1 live births per woman is considered to be the replacement level in developed countries.
Across the EU, the largest increase in fertility rate was observed in Latvia, which increased from 1.22 in 2001 to 1.70 in 2015, while the largest decrease was recorded in Cyprus where the fertility rate dropped 0.25 percent compared with the 2001 level.
