Abstract

With the end of the baby boom in the late 1960s, birthrates declined dramatically in both German states. Both governments responded with a series of social policy measures for families and mothers, but it was only in East Germany that birthrates eventually increased.

Declining Birth Rates (1950–1990)

Source

Births and Deaths in the Territory of the Former Federal Republic (in thousands)

Year	Live births	Deaths	Surplus of births (+) or deaths (-)
1950	813	529	284
1960	969	643	326
1965	1,044	678	367
1970	811	735	76
1971	779	731	48
1972	701	731	-30
1973	636	731	-95
1974	626	728	-101
1975	601	749	-149
1976	603	733	-130
1977	582	705	-123
1978	576	723	-147
1979	582	712	-130
1980	621	714	-93
1981	625	722	-98
1982	621	716	-95
1983	594	718	-124
1984	584	696	-112
1985	586	704	-118
1986	624	700	-76
1987	642	687	-45
1988	677	688	-10
1989	681	698	-16
1990*	727	713	14

* Preliminary results

Births and Deaths in the Territory of the Former GDR (in thousands)

Year	Live births	Deaths	Surplus of births (+) or deaths (-)
1950	304	220	84
1960	293	234	59
1965	281	230	51
1970	237	241	-4
1971	235	235	0
1972	200	234	-34
1973	180	232	-52
1974	179	229	-50
1975	182	240	-59
1976	195	234	-38
1977	223	226	-3
1978	232	232	0
1979	235	233	2
1980	245	238	7
1981	238	232	5
1982	240	228	12
1983	234	223	11
1984	228	221	7
1985	228	225	2
1986	222	224	-1
1987	226	214	12
1988	216	213	3
1989	199	206	-7
1990*	175	201	-26

* Preliminary results

Source: Federal Office of Statistics, ed., Datenreport 1992. Zahlen und Fakten über die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bonn, 1992, p. 48.

Recommended Citation

Declining Birth Rates (1950–1990), published in: German History in Documents and Images, <https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/two-germanies-1961-1989/ghdi:document-1020> [April 07, 2024].