The figures from Poland Statistics, the country’s statistics office, will serve as another indicator pointing towards an alarming decline in the size of the Polish population.
In the calendar year of 2023 there were 272,000 children born, for example, while in 2019 Polish mothers gave birth to some 375,000 babies.
All this means that the population, which had reached 40 million in 1989, has now fallen to close to 37,550,000.
Adding to the problem is a change in the age mix, demographer Mateusz Łakomy, author of the book “Demography is the future,” told the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
While Poland once benefitted for years from having a young, economically active population and relatively fewer older people for each working person to look after them, the situation is now reversing.
Last year, for every 100 working people there were 40 retirees to support, and 31 children. In 1990, there were 21 retirees and 50 children.
This means that compared to 1990, there are twice as many retirees and 40% fewer children to take up the economic burden in the future.
“Taking no far-reaching action to increase childbirth rates could in the long term result in economic stagnation and even a long-lasting recession,” said Łatkowski.
In Łatkowski’s opinion, better housing opportunities and stable work contracts are key to convincing women aged 18 to 49 to have more babies.
