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Photo: Fabian Strauch / dpa
In March 2021 there were almost 66,000 newborns in Germany within a month.
The last time there were so many births was more than 20 years ago.
The Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden sees a temporal connection with the subsidence of the first corona wave and easing from the beginning of May of last year.
According to preliminary figures, an increase of six percent compared to the same month of the previous year was already apparent in February 2021, said the Federal Statistical Office.
In March the number rose again by 5900 births (ten percent).
The last time there were more than 65,000 births in a March in 1998.
A look at the beginning of the year shows that no more children were conceived during the first lockdown.
In January 2021, the birth rate was at the previous year's level.
However, most registry offices also reduced their operations during the first lockdown.
The preliminary results for March 2020 could therefore be a little too low.
The final monthly results for 2020 and 2021 will be published in July 2021 and July 2022, respectively.
The development in March can by no means only be observed in Germany.
In other European countries, too, the number of births rose in March.
In countries particularly affected by the pandemic, such as Spain or Belgium, the initially declining numbers have stabilized again.
In other countries, they increased significantly in March compared to the same month of the previous year.
According to the authorities there, there were 15 percent more babies in Romania, 13 in Estonia and Lithuania, and ten percent more in the Netherlands, Finland and Hungary.
kry / dpa