Government calls Norway’s dropping birth rate a problem

COPENHAGEN – Norway’s statistical agency says it has recorded the lowest number of newborns since it started counting in the 19th century, with the country’s family minister acknowledging that it is a problem.

Espen Andersen from Statistics Norway says the downward trend — 55,120 children were born in 2018 in the Scandinavian country of 5.3 million, down from 56,633 in 2017 — has been going on since 2009.

Andersen says the overall fertility rate has dropped from 2.5 children per woman in 1970 to 1.5 last year.

Child and Family Minister Kjell Ingolf Ropstad told Norway’s news agency NTB Thursday that he has asked the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to find the cause for the drop.