2.5 thousand multiple births in 2024

Twins in a pram and a big brother looking at his sisters.
© ANP
There were 2,448 twin births in 2024, as well as 32 triple and multiple births. The number of multiple births has remained roughly the same over the past ten years. Most mothers who gave birth to twins or more in 2024 were aged between 35 and 40 years. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new figures.
The number of twin births reached a peak of 3.7 thousand in 2002. After that, the annual number fell to just under 2.5 thousand in 2022, with some minor fluctuations along the way. The number of triplets and multiple births peaked at 124 in 1991, and over the past five years it has been between 25 and 40 per year. The decrease since the beginning of this century is partly due to the overall decline in the number of births, including single births, and partly to changes in fertility treatments such as IVF.


Fewest multiple births in the 1970s

The 1970s saw the lowest rate of multiple births. In that decade, approximately 1 percent of pregnancies resulted in multiple births. In the 1950s and 1960s, the rate had been slightly higher, and from the 1980s onwards, the rate of multiple births increased once again, reaching nearly 2 percent by the turn of the century. It then decreased again and has been around 1.5 percent in recent years.

The low rates in the 1970s may be related to the relatively young age at which women were conceiving, because the likelihood of a multiple pregnancy increases with age. The increase in the 1980s and 1990s coincided with a rise in the use of fertility treatments, which increased the likelihood of multiple pregnancies, as well as the use of hormone treatments and the implantation of multiple embryos.

Since the beginning of 2000, most treatments involve the implantation of just one embryo. This is mainly because fertility treatments have improved, which increases the likelihood of a successful pregnancy with one embryo, and people have also become more aware of the risk of complications involved with multiple pregnancies.


Mothers aged 35 and over are more likely to have multiple births

Among mothers aged 35 and over, nearly 2 percent of births in 2024 were multiple births. Multiple births are less likely in younger mothers. Compared to thirty years ago, the rate of multiple births has fallen, particularly among mothers aged 30 and over. This is because of changes in fertility treatments.

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