as the country struggles with the challenges of an ageing population. There were around 654,300 births in 2025, statistics agency Destatis said, compared with 677,117 the previous year -- a drop of around 3.4 percent. It was the fourth year in a row that the number of births had fallen. The number of deaths -- around 1.01 million -- exceeded the number of births in 2025 by 352,000, the largest so-called birth deficit in the post-war  period, the agency said. The trend is largely down to two developments, according to Destatis: the relatively small number of people born in the 1990s now reaching the age where they are most likely to have children, and the decline in the total fertility rate since 2022. The total fertility rate measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime. In 2024, the latest year for which statistics are available, around 19  million people in Germany were aged 65 or older -- about 23 percent of the total population. In 1991, only 15 percent of the population was aged over 65. A pensions commission appointed by the government is due to present its recommendations for reform on June 30. Chancellor Friedrich Merz caused a backlash last week when he said the state pension should now be seen only as a "basic provision" to be topped up with other income. The comments provoked strong criticism from unions and the centre-left SPD, in a governing coalition with Merz's conservatives. Merz later clarified that there would be "no cuts to statutory pensions" under the current government. (Bssnews)