Belgium had an average of 1.5 children per woman: the Federal Planning Bureau established this by means of the new population data by origin from Statbel. The number is highest for women who do not have Belgian nationality. The average for Belgian women of foreign origin is 1.6 and 2.1 for women with a foreign nationality. With 1.4 children per woman, the average for Belgian women of Belgian descent is lower.
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The mothers of foreign origin or nationality make up 40 percent of women of childbearing age, but they account for 48 percent of births. The Federal Planning Bureau puts forward two explanatory factors for this. A higher fertility – and therefore an average number of children – among women of foreign origin or nationality is partly at the basis. Also, a higher percentage of women with a foreign nationality were in the age group between 25 and 35 years. Fertility rates are highest at this age.
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