The world has a total population of 7.2 billion people. The global population is increasing rapidly day by day. But still, there are some countries where the birth rate is really low. Due to this, the population is declining in some regions of the world. This issue is observed in some parts of East Asia and Europe.
What is Birth Rate?
The birth rate is also sometimes referred to as the crude birth rate and is basically the number of live births in a year per 1000 individuals. The change in population is then calculated by subtracting the death rate from the crude birth rate.
While on the other side it is based on the marriage and divorce rate as these both factors play an important role along with the economic status and stability rate of any region also play an important role in rising and falling of the birth rate of any part in the world.
Why Do Countries Experience Low Birth Rates?
There are several reasons behind the low rate of birth in some regions. Bosnia and Germany are the top mentions with the low birth rate in the European area. The problem is not just observed in Europe, but some other East Asian countries are also seen to have this issue.
The root cause of the low birth rate in these areas is that the cost of living has increased and people find it even harder to support families. Not everyone can afford to help their children. Another reason is that women are offered with more opportunities, and they cannot find the time to handle the kids. Health and ageing factors also contribute to the low rates in these regions.
Countries With Lowest Birth Rates:
Listed below are some countries that have the lowest birth rates:
| Sr. No. | Country | Birthrate (per 1,000) |
| 20 | Portugal | 9.00 |
| 19 | Hong Kong | 8.90 |
| 18 | Romania | 8.90 |
| 17 | Croatia | 8.90 |
| 16 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8.80 |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 8.70 |
| 14 | Germany | 8.60 |
| 13 | Singapore | 8.60 |
| 12 | Italy | 8.60 |
| 11 | Macau | 8.60 |
| 10 | San Marino | 8.60 |
| 9 | Greece | 8.40 |
| 8 | Taiwan | 8.30 |
| 7 | Korea, South | 8.30 |
| 6 | Slovenia | 8.20 |
| 5 | Puerto Rico | 8.10 |
| 4 | Japan | 7.70 |
| 3 | Andorra | 7.50 |
| 2 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 7.10 |
| 1 | Monaco | 6.60 |
Monaco: Country with Lowest Birth Rate:
Monaco is the country that has the lowest birth rate in the world. The rate is 6.60 per 1,000 population. The population growth in Monaco is only 0.24% as per the facts and figures for the year 2017. The population is declining in the region as the birth rate is 6.6 per 1,000 people while the death rate is much higher, up to 9.8 deaths per 1,000 population.
Many problems arise due to the low rate as there are youth count is much less and this in terms, has its impact on the economy of the country. In Monaco, only 10.68% of the total population is less than 14 years old.
Age Structure of Monaco:
0-14 years: 10.68% (male 1,685/female 1,587)
15-24 years: 9.27% (male 1,464/female 1,376)
25-54 years: 32.91% (male 5,067/female 5,018)
55-64 years: 1
4.94% (male 2,286/female 2,292)
65 years and over: 32.21% (male 4,387/female 5,483) (2017 est.)
| Age Group | Percentage Population |
| 0-14 years | 10.68% (male 1,685/female 1,587) |
| 15-24 years | 9.27% (male 1,464/female 1,376) |
| 25-54 years | 32.91% (male 5,067/female 5,018) |
| 55-64 years | 14.94% (male 2,286/female 2,292) |
| 65 years and over | 32.21% (male 4,387/female 5,483) (2017 est.) |
Less Births In Saint Pierre and Miquelon:
Saint Pierre and Miquelon come second on the list, and the rate of births here is on 7.10. The situations in the country is quite adverse as the growth rate is decreasing and is -1/13% as per the CIA Factbook (2018 est.) The number of deaths here is also high as it is 10.2 deaths per 1000 people. The economy here is also disturbed as the primary source of income of the inhabitants was fishing. But recently there have been many disputes with Canada on fishing quotas.
Now the government of Saint Pierre is also focusing on promoting tourism in order to flourish the economy.
Andorra: 3rd lowest Rate of Birth:
It is an European country with an estimated population of 85,708 people. Andorra is basically the smallest state located in the region of Europe. The country is situated in the middle of French and Spanish border.
The rate of birth is very less in this piece of land as this country is located form last 751 years on the global map and at that time its population was 1278 people, and now in the year 2018, its total population is 85,708.
Andorra is one of the globally most significant visiting spots as every year; this place is visited by round about eight million people. There are multiple things which attract the tourists just like winter sports, duty-free shopping and the summer climate is considered as one of the ideal climates.
This country is divided into different ethnic groups, but the Andorran are found in the majority here. The percentage of Andorrans is 45.5%. Other ethnic groups include Portuguese 12.9%, Spanish 26.6%, other 9.8% and French 5.2%.
The official religion of this state is Roman Catholic (predominant). The churches of this region are some of the best tourist attraction.
But the issue is that the birth rate of children in this region is lowest as compared to the other regions of the world. The key reason was that the fertility rate is very low which is one of the major factor which affects the birth rate.
One the most significant factor is that the cold climate of the region also affects the birth rate. Due to the cold climate the rate of being an adult is extended and most of the children don’t become mature in the average age.
While moving further another factor which affects the birth rate is the postponement of marriage. As a result of this, the first born child is born in the last ages of the parents.
Because of that most of the parents are not able to give birth to another child. Due to the low economic factor, most of the mothers don’t get full protein, and the newborn child is mostly underweight.
That is the primary issue that’s why very few children are able to survive. There are very few children are able to touch the mature age due to health issues.
While moving on, Demographic trends are also popular in this region, so in this case, the result of the divorce rate is higher than the rate of marriage. In most of the cases divorces happen before the birth of first child.
After that, most of the women give birth before marriage, and most of the women decide to have an abortion in pregnancy. Majority of the women are not able to become a mother for the second time which is also a factor.
Now if we focus on the average age of the population, we come to know that the facts are totally different from the regions. These facts and figures show that the population of children is quite low.
Age structure:
0-14 year: 14.06 percent (male 6,197 /female 5,856)
15-24 year: 9.78 percent (male 4,344 /female 4,035)
25-54 year: 45.27 percent (male 19,813 /female 18,990)
55-64 year: 14.71 percent (male 6,674 /female 5,935)
65 year plus: 16.18 percent (male 7,047 /female 6,817) (2018 est.)
These fact and figures show that the amount of males is greater than females. Most of the males don’t get married at the right age. Even if they were married, the newborns would not be able to survive for long due to low protein and poor health condition.
The value of the birth rate of this region is very low, and the figures are shocking according to the survey of the year 2018 the birth rate is 7.3 births/1,000 populations (2018 est.).
While on the other side the figures of the death rates are also shocking as there is a proper balance in the rate of birth and death according to the facts 7.4 deaths/1,000 populations (2018 est.)
Countries with highest Birth Rate:
There are some countries in the world where the population is increasing at a high rate due to the high rate of birth. The table below shows the list of those countries that have the highest birth rate:
| RANK | COUNTRY | (BIRTHS/1,000 POPULATION) | DATE OF INFORMATION |
| 1 | Angola | 44.20 | 2017 EST. |
| 2 | Niger | 44.20 | 2017 EST. |
| 3 | Mali | 43.90 | 2017 EST. |
| 4 | Uganda | 42.90 | 2017 EST. |
| 5 | Zambia | 41.50 | 2017 EST. |
| 6 | Burundi | 41.30 | 2017 EST. |
| 7 | Burkina Faso | 41.20 | 2017 EST. |
| 8 | Malawi | 41.00 | 2017 EST. |
| 9 | Somalia | 39.60 | 2017 EST. |
| 10 | Liberia | 38.30 | 2017 EST. |