ASTANA – Kazakhstan registered 77,300 live births from January to March, a nearly 16% drop compared to the same period last year and the lowest figure since at least the first quarter of 2014, Data Hub reported on May 14, citing the Bureau of National Statistics.
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The peaks in live births are usually recorded at the end of the third quarter, and seasonal surges were especially noticeable in the pandemic years – 2020 and 2021. The lowest values, in turn, are more typical for the first quarter.
However, no matter how much the indicator fluctuates from quarter to quarter, in the past 11 years it had never dropped below 90,000 until now.
The decline was observed in all 20 regions of the country, with rural areas experiencing a more noticeable drop (-18.1%) compared to urban areas (-14.2%).
Kazakhstan’s crude birth rate — the number of live births per 1,000 people — also fell to 15.39, down 2.94 points year-on-year. This continues a long-term downward trend that began in 2015.
The number of deaths also decreased, though more modestly, falling 7.2% year-on-year to 31,000. As a result, the natural population increase (births minus deaths) dropped by 20.7% to 46,300 — the lowest since at least early 2014.
