Remarks

The total fertility rate is the mean number of children that would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime if she were to pass through her childbearing years conforming to the fertility rates by age of a given year. It is therefore the completed fertility of a hypothetical generation, computed by adding the fertility rates by age for women in a given year (the number of women at each age is assumed to be the same). A total fertility rate can also be used to indicate to what extent countries meet the replacement level fertility, or the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next. In more developed countries, a rate of 2.1 is considered to be the replacement level.

Most countries measure fertility both by age completed (age at last birthday) and age reached during the year. Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Malta and Poland measure fertility by age completed only. Eurostat, however, adjusted these countries’ fertility rates (into fertility rates by age reached during the year in question) to enable their inclusion in the overall comparison of European countries.

For more information see: Eurostat Metadata Fertility: Summary Methodology