Fewer Swiss people want children, and those who do are having them later. Switzerland’s fertility rate has fallen to its lowest level on record. In 2024 women had, on average, 1.29 children, well below the 2.07 needed to replace one generation with the next, wrote the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
There were 78,000 live births in 2024, 2.2% fewer than in 2023 and 9.2% fewer than in 2019. Switzerland has not experienced such a broad fall in births since the 1970s. The drop has affected children of every birth order, but it is especially pronounced among third births. Between 2019 and 2024, first births fell by 8.5%, second births by 9% and third births by 13.6%. Fourth and subsequent births declined by 5.8%.
This reinforces a long-running shift towards smaller families. Nearly half of babies born in 2024 were first children, and just over a third were second children. Third births accounted for only around one in nine. The two-child family remains the Swiss norm, but even that model is becoming less common.
Other countries have seen a similar decline in family size. In Finland and South Korea, for which comparable data are available, the numbers of second and subsequent births have also fallen sharply. Between 2019 and 2024, the numbers of second births and of third or subsequent births in Finland fell by 2% and 12%, respectively. In South Korea they dropped by a whopping 32% and 43%.
One reason for fewer babies per mother is delay. The average age of mothers at childbirth reached 32.4 years in 2024, among the highest in Europe. Mothers were 31.3, on average, when their first child was born; fathers were 35.3. The spacing between births has remained broadly stable—about three years between the first and second child and 3.6 years between the second and third. Starting later therefore leaves less time to have a desired number of babies.
Age-specific fertility rates show how sharply the timetable has shifted. Women aged 30-34 now have the highest fertility rate, at roughly 99 births per 1,000 women. Women aged 35-39 have overtaken those aged 25-29. Over the past decade the centre of gravity for childbearing has moved steadily into the thirties.
Postponement does not necessarily mean opting out. Some couples still hope to have the children they want at a later age. But biology imposes limits, and assisted reproduction can compensate only partly. The number of people undergoing in-vitro fertilisation has fallen since its pandemic-era peak, though the success rate has edged up. Births following IVF treatment accounted for about 3.1% of all live births in 2023, up from 2.6% in 2019.
The more troubling data concerns intentions. Surveys of people aged 20-29 suggest that the desire for children has weakened markedly. In 2013 only 6% said they wanted none; by 2023 the share had risen to 17%. The proportion hoping for two children fell from 61% to 53%, while the share wanting three or more also declined. Among those in their thirties, the change is also stark. The share saying they wanted no children rose from 9% in 2013 to 16% in 2023.
Men and women report broadly similar desired family sizes, as do people in Switzerland’s different linguistic regions and in urban and rural areas. Relationship status matters more. Those without a partner are almost twice as likely to say they want no children as those living as a couple.
The perceived consequences of parenthood have also become less favourable. In 2023, 41% of young adults thought another child would improve their happiness, while 21% expected it to diminish it. Most anticipated no clear effect on their relationship with a partner. Careers were a greater source of anxiety: about half expected parenthood to damage their professional prospects, whereas fewer than one in ten foresaw an improvement. Women were especially pessimistic. These attitudes have hardened over the past decade. Expectations that a child would increase happiness have declined, while fears about career damage have remained widespread.
When asked what shapes their decisions, respondents put the quality of their relationship and their finances first. But working conditions and childcare have become much more important since 2013. In 2023, 56% said each of these strongly influenced whether they would have another child. The sharing of childcare and housework also mattered more than before. Women were more likely than men to say that the division of unpaid labour affected their choices.
Falling fertility and shrinking families are common across the rich world. Governments often spend heavily on paid parental leave, childcare and other support for working parents in the hope of slowing the decline. The Nordic countries have led the way on generous support, with limited success. Fertility rates in Denmark (1.49), Norway (1.44) and Sweden (1.43) remain slightly above Switzerland’s (1.29), but Finland’s is lower, at 1.25. All five countries are well below the replacement rate, and all have recorded sharp declines in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024 Sweden’s fertility rate fell by almost 16%, from 1.70 to 1.43, compared with a 13% drop in Switzerland, from 1.48 to 1.29. Denmark’s decline was similar to Switzerland’s. Based on the experience of the Nordic countries such policies are unlikely to produce a sudden baby boom in Switzerland.
It appears that a complex mix of features of modern life in rich countries now discourage childbearing, leaving no easy fix.
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