Back Women in the EU are having their first child later

24 February 2021

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The mean age of women in the EU on giving birth to their first child is gradually increasing and stood at 29.4 years in 2019. The mean age has increased in all EU Member States over this period, though to varying degrees.

The largest change was in Estonia, where the mean age increased by 1 year, from 27.2 years in 2015 to 28.2 years in 2019, followed by Lithuania and Luxembourg (both +0.9 years). Over the same period, the smallest changes were recorded in Slovakia (+0.1 years) and Slovenia (+0.2).

This information comes from Eurostat data on births and fertility published today. The indicator presented in this article shows only a small part of the large amount of data related to demography, covering areas such as population, fertility, marriages and divorces.

 

Age of women at the first childbirth ranges from 26.3 in Bulgaria to 31.3 in Italy

In 2019, the mother’s age at the first childbirth was above 31 in three EU Member States: Italy (31.3 years), Spain and Luxembourg (both 31.1 years).

In contrast, in two Member States the mean ages at which women had their first child were below 27 years: Bulgaria (26.3 years) and Romania (26.9 years).

 

Mean age of women at first child birth, 2019

Source dataset: demo_find

 

For more information:

  • Eurostat website section dedicated to statistics on demography
  • Eurostat database on births and fertility data
  • Commission webpage on the impact of demographic change in Europe

 

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