First time mothers in Romania are among the youngest in EU

Women who gave birth to their first child in Romania in 2015 were aged 26.3 on average, which means that they were among the youngest first time mothers in the European Union, according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat. In Bulgaria, the average age of first time mothers was 26, this being the only country that outranked Romania. In contrast, the age of women at birth of their first child was over 30 in Italy (30.8), Spain (30.7), and Luxembourg and Greece (both 30.2). At EU level, the average age of first time mothers was nearly 29 in 2015 (28.9). Older Eurostat statistics show that Romanian women are also the first to marry in the EU. The Eurostat data also shows that 40,217 more babies were born in the EU in 2015 compared to 2001, which represented an increase of 0.8%. Across Member States, the largest relative increases were in Sweden (plus 25.6%), the Czech Republic (plus 22.1%), Slovenia (plus 18.1%), and the United Kingdom (plus 16.1%). On the other hand, Romania registered one of the biggest decreases in the number of babies born, namely 10.4%. Only Denmark (minus 11.1%), the Netherlands (minus 15.8%), and Portugal (minus 24.2%) registered steeper drops than Romania. Statistics: Fewer babies born in Romania in 2016 Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com