For the fourth consecutive year, the birth rate has dropped in Brazil, according to data released on Wednesday (27) by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). In 2022, the country had 2,542,298 births, a decrease of 3.5% compared to 2021, which totaled 2,635,854 babies. The number of births in 2022 represents an 11.4% drop from the country's average from 2010 to 2019, which was 2,868,479. The decline in birth rates in the country is part of a demographic transformation that has been underway since the 1960s. "This process has already occurred in other countries, mainly developed countries, and we observe that, in the last three decades, it has accelerated," says Janaína Feijó, a researcher at FGV-Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation).
IBGE points out that all regions of the country recorded declines in births —Northeast (-6.7%), North (-3.8%), Southeast (-2.6%), Midwest (-1.6%), and South (-0.7%). Regarding Brazilian states, only Santa Catarina (2%) and Mato Grosso (1.8%) recorded an increase in births.
Feijó says that the decline in fertility first occurred in wealthier states, but today it is already perceived in practically the entire country. "As the level of education increased, women have been postponing maternity," she says.
The study also shows that approximately 39% of those born in 2022 had mothers aged 30 or older. The data demonstrate that women are becoming mothers at an increasingly later age. Regarding teenage pregnancy, in 2022, Brazil recorded a 14% decrease in girls who became mothers before the age of 15. The rate decreased in all states, except Amapá and Mato Grosso, which had increases of 13% and 9%, respectively.