RTL Today - Defying EU trends: Luxembourg among few European nations with more births than deaths in 2024

While France braces for a potentially negative population change for the first time since 1944, Luxembourg remains among the few EU countries where births continue to outnumber deaths – despite record-low fertility rates.

Luxembourg was one of just six EU countries to record more births than deaths in 2024, according to Eurostat figures – standing in contrast to France, where the national statistics office INSEE reported a negative natural population balance for the first half of 2025.

While France saw 330,999 deaths and only 317,340 births between January and June – a shortfall not seen since 1944 – Luxembourg ended 2024 with a natural increase of 1,988 people, bolstered by 6,459 births.

The Grand Duchy’s fertility rate, however, hit a historic low of 1.25 children per woman, suggesting that longer-term trends remain a concern. Despite the low fertility, overall population growth reached 1.5% last year, driven largely by net migration of +9,281.

INSEE attributes France’s demographic reversal to a continued decline in fertility, which is down 2.2% year-on-year, and also rising mortality among ageing baby boomers, with deaths increasing 2.5% in the first half of 2025. Demographers warn the same structural pressures exist across much of Europe.

Eurostat’s 2024 overview showed that only Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and Cyprus retained a positive natural balance. Denmark remained stable, while the remaining 20 EU countries recorded more deaths than births.

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Eurostat: Demographic balance