Swiss families are getting smaller and smaller
Keystone-SDA
Women in Switzerland are having fewer and fewer children. The size of the average family in Switzerland is therefore steadily decreasing. This is underpinned by the final figures for 2024.
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The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported on Thursday that third births (-3.6%) and second births (-2.8%) fell particularly sharply last year.
First births, on the other hand, fell by 1.5% and thus less significantly. The birth rates, which have been falling for years, are therefore less of an obstacle to the formation of families than to their expansion.
Number of children per woman at record low
After the first figures were published in April, the FSO announced that the average number of children per woman had fallen again in 2024, reaching the lowest level ever recorded. The FSO has now corrected the figure from 1.28 to 1.29 children per woman.
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Fertility rates plummet in Switzerland – and beyond
The annual population statistics, officially known as “natural population movement” statistics, also show that fewer marriages took place in 2024 (36,800) and there were more divorces (16,100) than in 2023.
The number of marriages fell by 2.6%. Apart from the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, this is the lowest figure since 1981. The number of divorces rose by 3.6% and the average length of marriage at divorce increased to 15.8 years.
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Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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