Berlin
Germany’s birth rate, already the lowest in Europe, dropped even further last year, the government announced. Germans had 8.5 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2005, down from 8.6 the previous year. That compares with 12 births per 1,000 in Britain and 12.7 per 1,000 in France. The town of Chemnitz, in the former East Germany, has what is believed to be the lowest birth rate in the world, at 6.9. So far, government initiatives to encourage childbearing—such as awarding families hefty cash bonuses for each child—have had little effect.
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