More babies were born in Germany in 2014 than in any of the last 25 years.
Women there gave birth to an average of 1.47 children, the highest rate since reunification in 1990 where there was a mini baby boom, according to the Federal Office for Statistics.
The data provided was also broken down to show that the rate rose from 1.37 to 1.42 for German women and from 1.80 to 1.86 for foreign women living in Germany.
Although the increase will be welcome news, it remains well below the number needed in future for the population to continue as it is.
Germany has one of the lowest birth rates in the developed world. It also already has the world’s second oldest population after Japan.
As the baby boomer generation continues to leave the job market over the coming 15 years, the country will be in dire need for people to replace them in the work place in order to maintain pensions and health care as well as infrastructure.
The babies born in the 1990 increase are now of child-bearing age and are contributing to the current boost in baby numbers. It remains to be seen if the surge will be sustained.
