Births and deaths

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In focus

Births

Fertility patterns have undergone profound changes over the course of the 20th century.

The birth rate fell from an average of 3.7 children per woman in 1900 to 1.8 at the beginning of the Second World War. In 1938 the trend was reversed. The number of children increased again rapidly, reaching 2.6 children per woman in 1945. Since 1975, the number of children per woman has stabilized at a low level, around 1.5 children for all women living in Switzerland.

Todesfälle, Sterblichkeit und Lebenserwartung

Deaths

In Switzerland, as in other developed countries, the increase in life expectancy is due to the decrease in mortality among the very old. The total number of deaths has remained relatively stable over the last three decades. However the year 2020 breaks this pattern as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a glance

Key figures
	2018	2019	2020
Live births	87 851	86 172	85 914
Crude birth rate	10.3	10.0	9.9
Average age at birth of a child	32.0	32.1	32.2
Average age at birth of the 1st child (married women)	30.9	31.1	31.1
Total fertility rate	1.52	1.48	1.46
Proportion of live births outside marriage	25.7	26.5	27.7
Sex ratio at birth	105.1	104.9	106.4
Deaths	67 088	67 780	76 195
Mortality rate	7.9	7.9	8.8
Infant mortality rate	3.3	3.3	3.6
Life expectancy at birth
Male	81.7	81.9	81.0
Female	85.4	85.6	85.1
Life expectancy at 65
Male	19.9	20.0	19.3
Female	22.7	22.7	22.2

Sources: FSO – BEVNAT, STATPOP

Further information

Weekly figures

All data on the topic

On this topic

Births

First names of newborns

First names in Switzerland

Deaths

Life expectancy

Paternity acknowledgements

Adoptions

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Federal Statistical Office Section Demography and Migration
Espace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland

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