The number of births in Quebec continues to decline, according to data published Thursday by the Institute of Statistics of Quebec (ISQ). Deaths are on the rise, all while the Quebec population is growing strongly.
The number of children born in Quebec in 2022 is 80,700 according to provisional data from the ISQ, a decrease of more than 4,000 births (a drop of 5%) compared to 2021 (85,124). This total also represents a low since 2005 (76,341 births).
These results are part of the downward trend observed in the province since 2012, a year which marked a peak in births in Quebec in the 21st century.e century (88,933). Between 2012 and 2022, the number of births decreased by some 9%.
During the same period, the birth rate, which corresponds to the number of births compared to the total population, increased from 11 per 1000 inhabitants to 9.3.
In comparison, in 1959, at the heart of the post-World War II baby boom, Quebec recorded 144,459 newborns, a historic peak, with a birth rate of 28.8 per 1000 inhabitants.
Preliminary data for 2023, which only compiles births from January to October, also suggests a decline for the year which has just ended. While 67,600 children were born in the first 10 months of 2022, this number fell to 65,050 for 2023.
The number of deaths jumped in 2022 compared to 2021, going from 69,900 to 78,400, an increase of 12%, an increase due to the pandemic and the resumption of the circulation of other respiratory viruses.
Since 2012, mortalities compiled in the province have increased by 28.5%.
However, in 2022 the population experienced its strongest annual growth in the last 50 years, a phenomenon which can be explained by the demographic weight of immigration, whether permanent or temporary.
THE Quebec demographic report for 2022published last summer, revealed that on 1er Last January, the population of Quebec was estimated at 8.8 million people, an increase of 149,900 people during the year 2022.