Women in Luxembourg on average give birth to their first child at the age of 32.5, 1.5 years later than a decade ago, a Eurostat study shows.
Across the EU, women are giving birth later in life.
The EU average age for first-time mothers is 31.1, with women in Spain giving birth at the age of 32.6 and in Ireland at 32.7. The youngest mothers are in Bulgaria (27.9) and Romania (28.2).
With more women prioritising education and careers compared to several decades ago, later motherhood has become a pattern among all EU countries.
In 2011, the average age of first-time mothers in the EU was 30.5. No EU country has younger first-time mothers now than a decade ago, although in some countries the difference in age changed minimally.
Women under 30 have also become more likely to not have children. In 2001, the fertility rate of women aged 25-29 years old was the highest among all age groups, while in 2021 the fertility rate of women aged 30-34 became the highest. The fertility rate at ages higher than 35 is also on the increase.
The Eurostat study also sheds light on birth rates and the share of foreign-born mothers in the EU
Small Covid boom?
Did family planning become more of a priority during Covid in 2020? Or were potential parents bored while stuck inside?
Between 2020 and 2021, the total fertility rate increased in 21 EU Member States and only decreased in four. The total fertility rate is defined as the mean number of children who would be born to a woman during her lifetime.
In 2021, the total fertility rate in the EU was 1.53 births per woman, compared with 1.50 in 2020.
Most babies were born in France (1.84 births per woman), followed by Czech Republic (1.83) and Romania (1.81). By contrast, the lowest fertility rates in 2021 were recorded in Malta (1.13), Spain (1.19) and Italy (1.25). In Luxembourg it was 1.38.
65% of Luxembourg births from foreigners
No fewer than 65% of all babies born in the country in 2021 were from foreign-born mothers. Conversely, 98% of births in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Lithuania were born to native-born mothers.
Interesting, too, is that just over half of all babies born in the Grand Duchy were born to first-time mothers.
In the EU, more than one-third (35.8 %) of all births in 2021 were of second born children, around one-eighth (12.7 %) were third born children, and the remaining 6% were of fourth born or subsequent children.
The highest share of the total number of births of four or more children was recorded in Finland (9.8%), followed by Ireland (8.5%) and Slovakia (8.3%).
Source: today