Press release No. N 009 of 15 February 2023
- Rate of Caesarean deliveries at 30.9% in Germany in 2021 - Twice as high as in 1991 (15.3%)
- Saarland had the highest proportion of deliveries by Caesarean section, Sachsen the lowest
- Only one third of hospitals offering obstetrics services, compared with almost half in 1991
WIESBADEN – Roughly 237,000 women delivered by Caesarean in 2021, which means that nearly one out of three births in hospitals in Germany was by Caesarean section. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that the Caesarean rate was 30.9% for the whole of Germany. It is slightly higher than in 2020 (29.7%). The proportion of such surgical interventions doubled over the last 30 years. 15.3% of women gave birth by Caesarean section in 1991. There are several other obstetric procedures which are used only rarely. A vacuum extractor was employed in 6.3% of deliveries in 2021, forceps were used in 0.2%. 62.5% of women gave birth naturally in a hospital in 2021.
