Unexpected developments in Maghrebian fertility, Population & Societies
Résumé
In the countries of the Maghreb where fertility was traditionally very high, the rapid and almost
simultaneous fertility decline in the 1980s came as a surprise. Demographers then predicted a steady
fall to below two children per women, following the trend observed in many countries of Asia and Latin
America. But as Zahia Ouadah-Bedidi, Jacques Vallin et Ibtihel Bouchoucha explain, fertility in North
Africa has again surprised observers by remaining consistently above the two-child threshold.