Belgium’s Demographic Shift: Nearly Half of Newborns Have Foreign-Origin Mothers

The Federal Planning Bureau is based on Statbel data, the Belgian statistical office, to obtain figures on babies born in 2020, the nationality and origin of their mothers. According to the office, there were 67.3% Belgians of Belgian origin, 20.1% Belgians of foreign origin and 12.6% non-Belgians. 20.3% of women from a neighboring country (including the United Kingdom), 28.1% from other EU member countries, and 51.7% from elsewhere in the world are in the last two categories.

The statistics of the Federal Planning Bureau show that half of the babies born in 2020 had a mother of Belgian nationality and origin and that nearly 23% of the newborns of 2020 had a mother who was a Belgian of foreign origin and nearly 25% a mother of foreign nationality. The average number of children per woman in 2020 was 1.54 but it varies according to the nationality and origin of the mother: 1.38 child for mothers of Belgian origin and nationality, 1.58 child for Belgians of foreign origin and 2.05 for women of foreign nationality, it is specified. "From a historical point of view, the average of 1.54 children per woman recorded in 2020 for the entire population is rather low," comments the Planning Bureau.

The institution also notes that the fertility rate is linked to the age of women, and that non-Belgians are more represented in the 25-35 age group where the highest fertility rates are observed. Among Belgians of Belgian or foreign origin, "it is the older and younger age groups respectively that are the most represented, precisely the age groups that are characterized by the lowest fertility rates," it is further specified. Foreign nationality women accounted for 16.5% of all women of childbearing age in 2020 but 24.9% of births, the Planning Bureau adds.