{"version":1,"asset_type":"statistical_series","data_type":"time_series","slug":"europe-mean-age-at-first-birth-by-country","url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-mean-age-at-first-birth-by-country","html_url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-mean-age-at-first-birth-by-country/","title":"Mean Age at First Birth in Europe by Country (2024)","description":"Mean age of women at the birth of their first child across 36 European countries in 2024, from 31.9 years in Italy to 26.9 in Georgia. Eurostat data.","domain":"demo","category":"Demographics","keywords":["Demographics","Fertility","Europe","Eurostat","2024"],"publisher":"Eurostat","frequency":"Annual","temporal_coverage":"2012/2024","unit":"years","last_updated":"2026-07-25","last_updated_text":"25 July 2026","data_as_of":"2024","variable_measured":"Mean age of women at birth of first child","license":"https://apiardata.com/data-license","is_accessible_for_free":true,"sources":[{"name":"Eurostat","url":"https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/DEMO_FIND/default/table"}],"meta":[{"label":"Frequency","value":"Annual"},{"label":"Reference year","value":"2024"},{"label":"Coverage","value":"2012–2024"},{"label":"Countries","value":"36"},{"label":"Last updated","value":"25 July 2026"}],"kpis":[{"label":"Average of the panel (2024)","value":"29.6","unit":"years","trend":{"direction":"up","value":"+0.1 vs 2023"}},{"label":"Highest","value":"31.9","unit":"Italy"},{"label":"Lowest","value":"26.9","unit":"Georgia"},{"label":"Countries ranked","value":"36","unit":"with a published figure"}],"series":[{"key":"value","label":"Average age at first birth"}],"observation_count":13,"observations":[{"period":"2012","value":28.1},{"period":"2013","value":28.3},{"period":"2014","value":28.4},{"period":"2015","value":28.6},{"period":"2016","value":28.7},{"period":"2017","value":28.8},{"period":"2018","value":28.9},{"period":"2019","value":29.1},{"period":"2020","value":29.2},{"period":"2021","value":29.4},{"period":"2022","value":29.4},{"period":"2023","value":29.5},{"period":"2024","value":29.6}],"table":{"columns":[{"key":"rank","label":"#"},{"key":"country","label":"Country"},{"key":"value","label":"years"},{"key":"yoyChange","label":"Change vs 2023"}],"rows":[{"rank":"1","country":"Italy","value":"31.9","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"2","country":"Luxembourg","value":"31.6","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"3","country":"Spain","value":"31.5","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"4","country":"Liechtenstein","value":"31.3","yoyChange":"-0.2"},{"rank":"5","country":"Switzerland","value":"31.3","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"6","country":"Greece","value":"31.2","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"7","country":"Ireland","value":"31.2","yoyChange":"-0.4"},{"rank":"8","country":"Netherlands","value":"30.5","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"9","country":"Denmark","value":"30.3","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"10","country":"Portugal","value":"30.3","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"11","country":"Norway","value":"30.2","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"12","country":"Sweden","value":"30.2","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"13","country":"Cyprus","value":"30.1","yoyChange":"+0.3"},{"rank":"14","country":"Austria","value":"30.0","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"15","country":"Finland","value":"30.0","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"16","country":"Germany","value":"29.9","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"17","country":"Malta","value":"29.9","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"18","country":"Belgium","value":"29.6","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"19","country":"Croatia","value":"29.5","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"20","country":"France","value":"29.3","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"21","country":"Slovenia","value":"29.1","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"22","country":"Czechia","value":"29.0","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"23","country":"Hungary","value":"29.0","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"24","country":"Estonia","value":"28.9","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"25","country":"Iceland","value":"28.9","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"26","country":"Lithuania","value":"28.7","yoyChange":"+0.3"},{"rank":"27","country":"Poland","value":"28.7","yoyChange":"+0.3"},{"rank":"28","country":"Serbia","value":"28.5","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"29","country":"Latvia","value":"28.1","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"30","country":"North Macedonia","value":"27.8","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"31","country":"Albania","value":"27.5","yoyChange":"n/a"},{"rank":"32","country":"Slovakia","value":"27.4","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"33","country":"Turkey","value":"27.3","yoyChange":"+0.2"},{"rank":"34","country":"Romania","value":"27.2","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"35","country":"Bulgaria","value":"26.9","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"36","country":"Georgia","value":"26.9","yoyChange":"+0.3"}]},"qa":[{"question":"In which European country do women have their first child latest?","answer":"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."},{"question":"Why does the age at first birth keep rising?","answer":"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."},{"question":"How does this relate to falling fertility?","answer":"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."}]}