The fertility rate and population growth not only do they not go hand in hand in the Principality, but the country it is placed at the two extremes of the European ranking in these two indicators. Andorra is the European state that grew the most between 2020 and 2025but at the same time also it is the one that recorded a lower fertility rate per woman.
The phenomenon known as demographic winter, with reference to the aging of the European population caused by a low birth rate affects the Principality in a particular way. While in the range from zero to 14 years the population has decreased by 7.2% between the years 2020 and 2025in a stage of young population like that ofbetween 25 and 34, residents in the country have increased by 32.3%. It is in these last years when the country has experienced more exponential population growthmainly focused on this age profile and thanks to the arrival of immigrant labor. in parallel, the aging of the population has also been pronounced, with a 25% increase in residents over the age of 65. In fact, Andorra is the European country that has grown the most in the last five years, gaining 12.4% of the population, also between the microstates that have a similar population reference.
“Most of the people who sell are young, but they don’t have many children”
Paradoxically, the notable increase in the number of inhabitants in an area prone to having children has not had the effect of slowing down the decline in the birth rate. In 15 years, Andorra has gone from a fertility rate of 1.41 to 0.84 in 2024. It is lower than that of all the countries of the European Unionwhich stands at 1.38 children on average. In addition, from 2020, coinciding with the pandemic, women resident in the Principality have less than one son or daughter. “Most people who come to Andorra are young people, but in reality they do not have many children. They are assuming the same dynamic that we have”, he underlines Joan Micó, coordinator of the Andorra Research+Innovation sociology group.
“There are more and more people who do not have children as a priority”
In fact, the thesis defended by anti-immigration groups about the supposed higher birth rate of families that are not nationals of a country, in Andorra has little foundation. only Portuguese and Spanish women have a fertility rate clearly above the global rate of 0.84, with 1.21 and 1.13respectively. On the other hand, the Andorran, French and other nationalities women have less than one child. The births of this last group do represent one greater proportion with respect to the global populationbut thanks to the fact that its population is particularly concentrated in a childbearing age.
Timid recovery
In the year 2024, the Principality broke the downward trend in birth rates with a practically insignificant increase, from 0.79 to 0.84and the forecasts handled by the experts for the future they are also following this line. The projections of the last observatory of Andorra Research+Innovation foresee three scenarios: a low one in which the fertility rate would rise to 1 in 2040, another medium of 1.10, and a high one in which the rate would rise to 1.20 in 14 years. All this, however, in a context of structurally low fertility and marked by the backwardness of the reproductive calendar that affects most of Europe.
Other priorities
This situation, although it is often linked with the difficulty reconciling work life, the high age of emancipation and problems with access to housingit must also be framed in a context of cultural change. “Every time there is more people who do not have children as their main goalor before they want to cover other needs, such as having a stable life and a partner”, points out Micó.
In southern Europe the exception to the low birth rate is Francewhich is placed with an indicator of 1.66, which, however, also shows a downward trend. Other moving states at similar levels are Denmark, Sweden, Hungary or Romania. “Some countries managed to reverse the situation with state aid, but it’s complicated. We attach great importance to the material conditions”, says monkey
