Fertility

Bulgaria has been identified as the 11th fastest shrinking nation globally and the 25th highest aging nation, according to a recent CIA report cited by Nova TV. The United Nations has corroborated these findings, highlighting the overall fertility rate as a key indicator. Europe's rate stands at 1.5, falling short of the 2.1-point threshold necessary to maintain population stability.

Slovenia's fertility rate declined to 1.55 last year from 1.64 the year before as under 18,000 children were born, 7% less than in 2021, the latest Statistics Office data show.

The 17,627 births, or 8.4 per 1,000 population, is the fifth lowest number in the 101 years since population statistics have been available.

The birth rate in Turkey decreased for the seventh year in a row, data for 2022 show, reaching 1.62 live births per woman, Anadolu Agency reported, citing a statement from the Turkish Statistical Institute - Turksat (Europe announced a value of 1.53 for 2021).

According to the data of the Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS), the average household size in Türkiye is decreasing, falling from four people in 2008 to 3.17 people in 2022, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) has announced.

Anxieties about "too few" people are particularly strong in Eastern Europe, where low fertility rates are compounded by high levels of emigration. As a result, country's populations have been shrinking, in some cases by more than 25 per cent since the early 1990s.

Women in Europe are giving birth to their first child later than before: according to the European statistics agency Eurostat, the average age of first-time mothers in the European Union was 29.7 years in 2021, reported the "Frankfurter Rundschau". Statistics place Bulgarian women among the youngest mothers - the average age when they have their first child is 26.

Breaking with the age-old traditions, the family in Greece will in the future be less able to perform the role of safety cushion, taking care of the elderly when they can no longer live independently, due to demographic trends.

Scientists have created eggs using the cells of male mice for the first time, leading to the birth of seven mice with two fathers, according to research on March 15 hailed as "revolutionary."

A 40-year-old man in northern Greece is accused of repeatedly raping his 4-year-old son and filming the acts with the help of the boy's grandmother in a new case of sexual assault against a minor.

Media personality and hotel heiress Paris Hilton announced on Jan. 24 that she and husband Carter Reum had welcomed their first child.

Hilton posted a photo on Instagram of what appeared to be her newborn baby grasping her thumb.

"You are already loved beyond words," Hilton wrote with a blue heart emoji.