Babies per head
Live births per 1,000 inhabitants, 2025
In 2025 the eastern states recorded 5.6 live births per 1,000 inhabitants, 68% of the western rate of 8.2. Every eastern state is below every western state. Hamburg (9.5) has the highest rate, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia (5.3) the lowest. In 1990 Destatis put the two halves at 11.1 (East) and 11.5 (West); by 1991 the eastern states had fallen to 6.8, against 11.3 in the West.
Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·401 districts · 2025
Former West
8.2
excl. Berlin
Former East
5.6
excl. Berlin
Berlin
9.0
Germany
7.8
Figures in per 1,000
The East stands at 68% of the West's level (2025).
By state
- Hamburg9.5
- Berlin9.0
- Bremen8.7
- Baden-Württemberg8.4
- Bayern8.3
- Nordrhein-Westfalen8.2
- Hessen8.2
- Niedersachsen7.9
- Rheinland-Pfalz7.8
- Saarland7.3
- Schleswig-Holstein7.0
- Brandenburg5.7
- Sachsen5.7
- Sachsen-Anhalt5.6
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern5.3
- Thüringen5.3
2025
Then and now
Drag across the map to compare 1991 with 2025. Both maps share one colour key.
Former West
11.3
excl. Berlin
Former East
6.8
excl. Berlin
Berlin
8.9
Germany
10.4
Figures in per 1,000
The East stands at 60% of the West's level (1991).
Notes & caveats
- East, West, Germany and state rates are our calculation: live births ÷ average population (mean of 31 December before and after the year) × 1,000. Our state rates match the rates Destatis publishes to within 0.1.
- Live births are counted by the mother's place of residence. Germany recorded 654,241 live births in 2025; the state figures sum to 654,239 because Destatis applies a confidentiality procedure to the totals.
- District rates are as published by Destatis.
- 1991 state rates use the population update of the time (based on the 1987 census in the West and the GDR central register of 3 October 1990 in the East); 2025 is based on the 2022 census.
- The 1990 values in the summary are Destatis' own East/West rates, which for 1990–2000 split Berlin along the old border; they are not directly comparable with the state-based East (without Berlin) used elsewhere on this page.
Show the table
| State | Side | 2025 | 1991 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saarland | west | 7.3 per 1,000 | 10.3 per 1,000 |
| Berlin | berlin | 9.0 per 1,000 | 8.9 per 1,000 |
| Brandenburg | east | 5.7 per 1,000 | 6.7 per 1,000 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | east | 5.3 per 1,000 | 7.1 per 1,000 |
| Sachsen | east | 5.7 per 1,000 | 6.6 per 1,000 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | east | 5.6 per 1,000 | 6.8 per 1,000 |
| Thüringen | east | 5.3 per 1,000 | 6.7 per 1,000 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | west | 7.0 per 1,000 | 11.0 per 1,000 |
| Hamburg | west | 9.5 per 1,000 | 9.9 per 1,000 |
| Niedersachsen | west | 7.9 per 1,000 | 11.2 per 1,000 |
| Bremen | west | 8.7 per 1,000 | 9.9 per 1,000 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | west | 8.2 per 1,000 | 11.4 per 1,000 |
| Hessen | west | 8.2 per 1,000 | 10.6 per 1,000 |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | west | 7.8 per 1,000 | 11.2 per 1,000 |
| Baden-Württemberg | west | 8.4 per 1,000 | 11.9 per 1,000 |
| Bayern | west | 8.3 per 1,000 | 11.7 per 1,000 |