Before the pandemic, the number of births in Switzerland was falling. Then the number shot up as the pandemic waned. Between 2020 and 2021 the birthrate rose by 4%. However, in 2022, the rate fell by nearly 10%, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

In 2022, the birth rate was lower than it has been since the 1870s, according to researchers. In addition, the decline in births from January 2022 was greater than the increase in births in 2021. The decline in births that began before the pandemic appears to be continuing.
In 2019 the birthrate was 10.0 per 1,000 residents. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, the rate fell to 9.9 before jumping up to 10.3 in 2021 (+4%). By 2022, it was 9.3, a rate 7% lower than before the pandemic.
Why?
One possibility is that there was no long term desire to have more children. Instead, the pandemic accelerated the timing. The birthrate also dipped in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, so an element of postponement may have played into family planning decisions in 2021. The researchers also suggest a possible connection with recently lower birthrates and the increasingly uncertain economic situation in Switzerland. Either way, the Covid-19 baby boom was short-lived.
More on this:
FSO article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.