The number of births in Poland fell by 11pc in the 12 months to September [1], the first time the decline has hit double-digit levels.
The fertility rate has also been steadily declining from a high of 1.45 in 2017, to 1.26 in 2022 [2], well below the replacement rate of 2.1.
The outgoing conservative government, which has been in power since 2015, had made pro-natal policies a priority.
In the 12 months to September, Poland had 280,000 live births. That was the lowest annualised figure on record and 34,800 fewer than in the same period a year ago, according to calculations by economist Rafał Mundry based on data from Statistics Poland (GUS), a state agency.
Last year, the number of births in Poland had already fallen to its lowest level since the Second World War and the number of deaths exceeded the number of births for the tenth year in a row.