French President Emmanuel Macron promised on Tuesday to overhaul parental leave so it pays better after France saw the lowest number of births since World War Two last year, in a blow to its traditionally strong demographic profile.
France registered 678,000 births last year, representing a decrease of 7% from 2022 and down 20% since peaking in 2020, INSEE said in its annual census report.
The country has for decades been an outlier compared to other European countries, avoiding a collapse in birth rates as seen in Germany, Italy and Spain.