Birth Replacement Ratios in Europe: A New Look at Period Replacement

José Antonio Ortega, United Nations
Luis Alberto Del Rey Poveda, Universidad de Salamanca

European reproduction trends are traced using a new period replacement indicator: the Birth Replacement Ratio (BRR). The BRR is a replacement ratio that compares the period number of births to the mean size of the mothers’ generation at birth. In contrast with the Net Reproduction Ratio, differences between the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and the BRR are not due only to period mortality. They also incorporate the effect of mothers’ emigration and immigration. The application to a number of European countries between 1800 and 2004 (depending on data) shows interesting contrasts between the TFR and the BRR, which trace the demographic history of the respective countries. The BRR makes it possible to track the impact of emigration and immigration on population replacement over the demographic transition and compare the differences between sending and receiving countries, tracing the European emigration of the early 20th century or the current immigration processes.