Tunis (AFP) – Economic pressures and changing social norms are driving couples in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria to have fewer babies, with a recent study saying Maghreb fertility was at a historic low.
Issued on: 13/08/2026 - 13:58
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Experts and couples interviewed by AFP spoke of a combination of factors, including longer educations and growing professional ambitions among women, along with rising divorce rates and financial strain on young professionals.The trend mirrors changes seen in many parts of the world. But in the Maghreb, it challenges stereotypes of families tending to be large.A recent study by France's Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) said the decline has been exceptionally rapid and appeared to be "lasting", while Tunisian demographer Mohamed Ali Ben Zina described it as "profound".In Tunis, Nadia Jaouadi, 42, said she does not regret the decision she and her husband made a decade ago not to have children. "Nothing encourages having even a single child," said Jaouadi, a civil servant, blaming Tunisia's current economic woes and social climate.Across all three Maghreb countries, fertility rates fell by more than half since the 1970s, according to official figures.Social changesTunisia now has the lowest fertility rate in the Maghreb, with 1.58 children per woman in 2023 and an estimated 1.53 in 2024, compared with 1.97 in Morocco and 2.61 in Algeria.Tunisian demographer Hassen Kassar said Tunisia's fertility drop was primarily the result of deep social changes, including the "modernisation of families" and urbanisation, which have reduced family size.In Algiers, Said, a 66-year-old retired former finance executive who did not provide his full name, said he came from a family of 10 children."My father struggled to provide for the whole family," he recalled. "So I decided not to have more than two children. What's important is that they eat their fill, dress properly and live in good conditions."Chaimae Drioui, a researcher and professor at Morocco's National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA), said the decline in fertility was "a rational decision by families in response to a new economic and social context".
