The total fertility rate (TFR) indicates the average number of children born per woman over a lifetime given current age‑specific fertility rates, assuming no female mortality during reproductive years. The population is replaced at a total fertility rate of about 2.1 children per woman.
Fertility has declined over the past decades across OECD countries, falling from an average of 3.3 children per woman of childbearing age in 1960 to 1.5 in 2022 (Figure 4.4). The decline was particularly pronounced in Colombia, Costa Rica, Korea, Mexico and Türkiye, where previously between four and five children were born per woman on average. In 2021, TFRs increased slightly in two‑thirds of OECD countries from a historic low in 2020, then decreased again in 2022 in 31 out of 33 OECD countries for which rates are available, except in New Zealand and Portugal.
In 2022 the highest rate was recorded in Israel at 2.9, the only OECD country with a TFR above the replacement fertility rate. France and Ireland have the highest fertility rates in Europe, with Anglophone and Nordic countries also typically being at the higher end of the scale. The lowest fertility rates are recorded in Southern Europe and Japan, with Korea having the lowest TFR at around 0.78 children per woman. Fertility rates are generally higher in key partner economies than in OECD countries; rates are above replacement levels in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Fertility decreased in all key partner economies between 1990 and 2022.
Access to contraception, increasing female education, time needed to establish oneself in the labour market, barriers to balancing work and family life, and lower housing affordability have all played a role in declining fertility. The delay in having children is reflected in age‑specific fertility trends. Since 2000, fertility rates have been declining for women under 30 years, whereas they have been rising for those aged 30 years and older (Figure 4.5). In the last decade or so, the average TFR across the OECD of women aged between 30‑34 exceeded the TFR of 25‑29 year-olds, and the rate of women aged 35‑39 was also higher when compared to 20‑24 year-olds. Furthermore, in recent years, the average TFR of women aged 40‑44 years across the OECD surpassed the adolescent fertility rate. The adolescent fertility rate has fallen to low levels at under two births per 1 000 adolescents in Denmark, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, but it remains high at around 50 in Colombia and Mexico.
The fact that people are starting families later is also reflected in the increase in the mean age of women at first childbirth. Between 2000 and 2022, the mean age of women at first birth has risen by three years on average in the OECD, from 26.4 to 29.5 years old (Figure 4.6). In 2022, mean ages of women at first birth were lowest at around 27 years in the Slovak Republic and Türkiye, compared to around 32 years in Italy and Spain and 33 years in Korea.
