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Quebec recorded 83,900 births in 2017, 2,500 fewer than the previous year and representing a drop of three per cent, the Institut de la statistique du Québec reported on Wednesday.

The agency’s socio-demographic bulletin notes that the number of births in the province has been dropping since reaching a peak in 2012, when 88,900 births were recorded.

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In 2017, the overall birth index stood at 1.54 children per woman compared with 1.59 in 2016.

The index stood at 1.6 between 2006 and 2015, hitting 1.7 in 2009.

Despite the recent drop, the birthrate remains higher than it did at the start of the 2000s, when it stood at 1.5.

The ISQ statistics indicate that the overall decrease over the course of the last few years is linked to a particular drop in the index for women younger than 30. There was a slight drop in the index for women over 30, which until recently had been increasing.

In 2017, the proportion of children born to families where at least one parent was born outside Canada was 32 per cent, compared with 19 per cent 20 years ago.

Last year’s birth index was weakest in Quebec City, increased somewhat in Montreal but was highest in the north of Quebec, where it stood at 2.6.