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Demographics

Mean Age at First Birth in Europe by Country (2024)

Mean age of women at the birth of their first child across the 36 European countries covered in 2024, from 31.9 years in Italy to 26.9 in Georgia and Bulgaria. Eurostat data.

Data through 2024 Updated Annual Eurostat
Average of the 31-country panel (2024)
29.6
years
+0.1 vs 2023
Highest
31.9
Italy
Lowest
26.9
Georgia
Countries ranked
36
with a published figure

Data

Mean Age at First Birth in Europe by Country (2024) — source data. Eurostat.
# Country years Change vs 2023
1 Italy 31.9 +0.1
2 Luxembourg 31.6 +0.2
3 Spain 31.5 unchanged
4 Liechtenstein 31.3 -0.2
5 Switzerland 31.3 unchanged
6 Greece 31.2 +0.2
7 Ireland 31.2 -0.4
8 Netherlands 30.5 +0.1
9 Denmark 30.3 +0.2
10 Portugal 30.3 +0.1
11 Norway 30.2 +0.1
12 Sweden 30.2 +0.2
13 Cyprus 30.1 +0.4
14 Austria 30 +0.1
15 Finland 30 unchanged
16 Germany 29.9 +0.1
17 Malta 29.9 +0.1
18 Belgium 29.6 +0.1
19 Croatia 29.5 +0.2
20 France 29.3 +0.2
21 Slovenia 29.1 unchanged
22 Czechia 29 +0.1
23 Hungary 29 +0.2
24 Estonia 28.9 +0.2
25 Iceland 28.9 +0.1
26 Lithuania 28.7 +0.3
27 Poland 28.7 +0.3
28 Serbia 28.5 +0.1
29 Latvia 28.1 +0.2
30 North Macedonia 27.8 unchanged
31 Albania 27.5 n/a
32 Slovakia 27.4 +0.1
33 Turkey 27.3 +0.2
34 Romania 27.2 +0.1
35 Bulgaria 26.9 unchanged
36 Georgia 26.9 +0.3

About this Dataset

Among the 36 countries covered, the mean age at which women have a first child ranges from 26.9 years in Georgia and Bulgaria to 31.9 in Italy; Moldova, not covered here, is lower still. The panel average is 29.6 years, +0.1 on 2023 and rising in a near-straight line across the whole charted window.

This is the most predictable series in European demography. It has gone one way, in almost every country, for thirty years — and it is the mechanism behind most of the continent's fertility decline.

The ranking runs partly against the fertility ranking: across the countries in both tables the rank correlation is -0.42, a moderate rather than a close inverse relationship. Italy, Luxembourg and Spain postpone longest and record some of Europe's lowest fertility; Georgia, Bulgaria and Romania start earliest. What separates them is less contraceptive access or stated preference than the age at which young adults reach the stable income and secure housing that a first child is usually planned around. Countries where that milestone arrives in the late twenties show first births in the late twenties.

Every row is the figure published for 2024; no value is carried over from an adjacent year to fill a gap. Montenegro has not published a 2024 figure and is left out rather than carried forward from an older year. The chart tracks a fixed panel of 31 countries: those reporting in every year from 2012. The line therefore moves because the countries moved, not because the sample changed.

Country pages: Italy · Luxembourg · Spain · Liechtenstein · Switzerland · Greece · Ireland · Netherlands · Denmark · Portugal · Norway · Sweden · Cyprus · Austria · Finland · Germany · Malta · Belgium · Croatia · France · Slovenia · Czechia · Hungary · Estonia · Iceland · Lithuania · Poland · Serbia · Latvia · North Macedonia · Albania · Slovakia · Turkey · Romania · Bulgaria · Georgia

Frequently Asked Questions

Among the 36 countries covered, Italy, at 31.9 years in 2024, followed by Luxembourg, Spain and Liechtenstein. The southern European countries cluster at the top of this table and at the bottom of the fertility table, which is the same fact seen twice: a first birth at 32 leaves a narrow window for a second.

Longer time in education is the largest single factor, followed by the age at which people reach stable employment and independent housing. The panel average has risen to 29.6 years and has moved in the same direction in essentially every reporting country for three decades. Where the trend has flattened, it has done so at a high level rather than reversing.

Postponement mechanically reduces completed family size even when intentions do not change. A woman who starts at 30 rather than 26 has fewer fertile years remaining and faces higher rates of subfertility, so the second and third births that would have arrived are less likely to. Most of Europe's fertility decline since 1990 is accounted for by this shift in timing rather than by a rise in the share of women who have no children at all.
Demographics
Italy Mean Age at First Birth

One of the latest first-birth ages in Europe, with the full annual series.

Eurostat Annual
Demographics
Bulgaria Mean Age at First Birth

The earlier end of the European range, and the direction of travel since 1990.

Eurostat Annual