A third of all babies born in Germany came from immigrant families.

The number of births in Germany fell to a post-war low last year despite government incentives meant to reverse a population decline in the European Union’s biggest economy, and analysts blamed a lack of sufficient child care support. "As in every year since 1972, the number of people who died was greater than the number of children born. In 2011 the difference amounted to 190,000 people and in 2010 to 181,000," the office said in a report.

The preliminary data released by Germany’s Federal Statistics Office showed 663,000 children were born in 2011, down from 678,000 in 2010.

Demography experts have forecast that Germany’s population could shrink to about 50 million by 2050, based on current trends, and say France and Britain—which now have about 60 million each—could overtake it later this century.

Michaela Kreyenfeld from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research attributed Germany’s declining birthrate, one of the lowest in Europe, to conservative attitudes towards child care and the role of the mother.

The second largest Muslim population in a European country is in Germany, with approximately 3.5 million Muslims. Nevertheless, Germany’s Muslim population will continue to grow at a faster pace than its non-Muslim population, which has been decreasing to a minority in this century.