The number of births in the EU fell to 3,665,142 last year, the lowest since at least 1961 despite a much bigger population.

It marks a decline of 5.5pc from 2022, which was also the largest ever annual drop.

The worst affected EU countries suffered double-digit percentage falls in the number of children born, pointing to a growing demographic crisis.

In Romania, births fell by 13.9pc, in Poland 10.7pc and Czechia 10pc. All are at a record low.

Large wealthy European countries like France and Germany are also experiencing steep drops in the number of births, at respectively 6.6pc and 6.2pc.

Societies are ageing across the developed world. Fertility rates, which measure how many children women of childbearing age have on average, fell to a record low in England and Wales last year of 1.44. They are also at record lows in China and the US. The Irish fertility rate is now just 1.5, whereas the replacement rate is 2.1 children per woman.