BERLIN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Germany has recorded the highest number of annual births in 20 years, official figures published on Wednesday by the Federal Statistical Office show.
The number of births in 2016 rose by 7 percent to a total of 792,131. The Wiesbaden-based government statisticians noted that this marked the fifth consecutive increase and highest total number recorded since 1996.
The Federal Statistical Office primarily attributed the development to an increase in the number of women giving birth later in life between the ages of 30 and 37 years. The number of births increased across all of Germany's 16 states although the trend was significantly more pronounced in Western Germany, Hamburg and Berlin (8 percent increase) than in Eastern Germany (4 percent increase).
The average fertility rate in Germany was measured at 1.59 children per woman, the highest figure recorded since 1973. Broken down by nationality, the average fertility rate for women with German nationality was 1.56 compared with 2.28 for women with non-German citizenship.
In European comparison Germany's fertility rate is still slightly below the continental average of 1.6 children per woman.
The highest average fertility rate in 2015 was recorded in France (2.0) while Spain (1.32) and Italy (1.37) came in at the bottom of the table.
The figures could help allay fears of a shrinking and ageing German society and related economic costs.
According a recent survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, nearly two thirds (65 percent) of Germans are concerned about demographic change.
