The number of children born each year depends partly on the number of women of childbearing age. Because countries differ in how many women of childbearing age there are, the total fertility rate (TFR), or average number of children per woman, is often used to compare countries. This measure takes account of divergences in the age structure in different EU countries, making it easier to make comparisons between countries. The total fertility rate therefore does not reflect the actual number of children born per woman, but does provide a picture of the year-on-year trend in demographic fertility.
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