I've posted a number of times about the crisis of the declining birth rates in Europe. Now we learn that Germany's birth rate has declined precipitously in just one year. But that's not all - it's deaths have increased.
Official figures show that the number of births fell by a further 2.8% last year. Meanwhile, the mortality rate rose by 1.5% compared with 2004.
The birth rate is exceptionally low in the former East Germany, where the city of Chemnitz is thought to have the lowest birth rate in the world.
Economists say Europe's population decline threatens to damage economic growth for decades.
The data from Germany's Office for Federal Statistics show there were 686,000 births last year - half as many as in the early 1960s.
It's astonishing that Europe in general seems to be deliberately committing suicide. What can account for it?
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