The decline in the birth rate in the Czech Republic, which reached a historically lowest level in 2025 over the past 240 years, indicates that this development is not the result of a one-off shock, but rather a combination of structural demographic factors, economic uncertainty, and deeper societal changes. Reversing this negative trend requires a comprehensive approach involving the stabilisation of the economic environment, support for family policy, and systemic changes that enable a better balance between work and family life.

Key takeawys:

• The decline in the birth rate is the result of a combination of demographic, economic, and institutional factors – with a key role played by the concurrence of low fertility and weak population cohorts of women of reproductive age.
• Economic uncertainty and reduced housing affordability lead to the postponement of parenthood, which has long-term negative effects on overall fertility and increases the likelihood of childlessness.
• The current policy framework weakens the economic motivation for parenthood; therefore, a comprehensive and systematic transformation of family policy, as well as of the broader socio-economic environment, is essential to mitigate the demographic decline.

Policy paper – Martin Zeman

The analysis is in PDF under the link below.