BERLIN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of newborn babies in Germany in 2019 fell by almost 10,000 compared to the previous year to 778,100, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday.
The number of recorded deaths during the period was 939,500, according to Destatis. This means that 161,400 more people died in Germany in 2019 than children were born. In the previous year, the difference had even been slightly greater at 167,400.
The development that there were "more deaths than births in Germany is a long-term demographic trend that has continued since 1972," Destatis noted.
By 2060, Destatis is expecting Germany's population to shrink from currently more than 83 million to less than 75 million. However, with 9.4 births per 1,000 inhabitants, Germany was slightly above the average in the European Union (EU).
The number of marriages in Germany also declined by 7.4 percent in 2019 year-on-year, according to Destatis. In 2018, a particularly large number of marriages had been registered after the "marriage for all" following the introduction of same-sex marriage in October 2017.
Out of the 416,300 marriages in Germany in 2019, around 14,000 were between same-sex couples, according to Destatis. Enditem
