Fewer children and more and more new mothers over 40 years old. The last x-ray published by the European Statistical Agency (Eurostat) reveals a general trend throughout Europe -the progressive delay in motherhood– but particularly evident in Spain: the second country of the European Union with the lower fertility rate, only behind Malta; the second with the highest median age of new mothers, behind Italy; and the member state with a higher percentage of mothers who had their first offspring above 40 yearswhich accounted for 10.2% of all births in 2020.
Statistical analysis confirms that the number of children continues to plummet, going from 4.4 million children born in 2008 to 4.1 million in 2020. After two decades of ups and downs, the rate stood at 2020 in an average of 1.5 children compared to 1.53 registered a year before. A slight fall that Eurostat attributes to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. The data also hides somewhat different realities.
France, Romania, Czechia
At the head in number of children is France (1.83), ahead of Romania (1.8), the Czech Republic (1.71), Denmark (1.68) and Sweden (1.67). At the bottom of Europe, Malta (1.13), Spain (1.19) and Italy (1.24). These last two countries are also the two European countries with the oldest first-time mothers, 31.4 and 31.2 years old respectively, ahead of Luxembourg (31), Ireland (30.9) and Greece (30.7). Younger women choosing to be mothers meanwhile come from Bulgaria (26.4 years), Romania (27.1), Slovakia (27.2), Latvia (27.3) and Poland (27.9).
This tendency to delay motherhood also means that there are more and more first-time mothers above the 40-year-old threshold. The rate has doubled in the last 20 years, going from 2.4% to 5.5% in 2020, although it is the Spanish that lead the table again. 10.2% of all births that took place in 2020 in Spain corresponded to women over 40. Behind them were Ireland and Italy (8.8% respectively), Greece (8.4%) and Portugal (8 %) compared to 3.4% in Romania and Slovakia.
aged population
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Demographic change not only translates into fewer children. Eurostat also notes the existence of an increasingly aging European population. For example, 21% in 2021 were over 65, up from 16% in 2001, and 6% were over 80, up from 3% two decades earlier. The countries with more people over 65 years of age in their population pyramid were Italy (24%), Finland and Greece (23%) as well as Portugal, Germany and Bulgaria (22%). In the same period, on the other hand, the percentage of young people, between 0 and 19 years old, fell from 23 to 20%, although the average hides different realities. With the highest percentage of young people are Ireland (27%), France (24%) and Sweden (23%) compared to Malta, Italy and Greece where they represent 18% of the population.
If the European population has managed to increase from 429 to 447 million -4%- between 2001 and 2021 has been thanks to increasing immigration which increased in 18 EU countries. The comparison also confirms the gradual reduction, although with fluctuations, of marriages in Europe, which were 3.2 per 1,000 people in 2020, the lowest level recorded since 2001. Hungary is at the head of the percentage of marriages (6 .9), Latvia (5.6) and Lithuania (5.5). At the bottom, as in births, were Italy (1.6), Portugal (1.8) as well as Spain and Ireland (1.9).