Bulgarian women give birth to the most children of all women in the European Union. This is shown by the latest data released by Eurostat, which calculates the fertility coefficient among women in the community for 2023. This coefficient shows the average number of children that a woman would give birth to in her fertile period. In our country, it covers women between the ages of 15 and 49, and for the first time our country tops this statistic.
According to many demography experts, this coefficient is a better indicator of the reproductive capacity of a population even than the birth rate, which shows the number of children born per 1,000 people, but from the entire population. For the first time we see Bulgaria in this first position. We will leave the reasons to the experts, and we will introduce you to the numbers.
1.8 children are expected to be born to a Bulgarian woman between the ages of 15 and 49, which gives us a significant lead over the others. We are followed by France and Hungary, and last is Malta. The average number of children expected to be born to a citizen of the European Union is 1.4 - a record low coefficient for the community.
Since such statistics have been kept, the top position has almost always been occupied by Ireland. A country with a very interesting demographic history, which after many years of deep crisis, began to increase its population at such a pace that in the following decades it did not leave the first place in growth in Europe. Exactly 50 years ago, their fertility rate reached 3.5. At the same time in our country - 1973, it was just over 2.
Only 10 years ago France managed to displace Ireland from first place, and our country, which has been going down all these years and has held positions even after the 20th, reversed the trend - after 2000, and the coefficient began to grow. Thus, against the background of the general record decline in the entire European Union in 2023 - the last year studied by Eurostat, Bulgaria displaces France and takes the lead in Europe.
The highest coefficient was recorded in Sliven. Women of fertile age there give birth to 2.6 children. Yambol and Pazardzhik follow, and the fewest children are born in Sofia-city, Pernik and Smolyan. There, there are about 1.5 children per woman.
But at what age specifically do women give birth? According to statistics, this happens in our country the earliest. Bulgarian women give birth to their first child at the age of 27, and their second at 29.
Women who decide to have a child the latest live in Italy. They are followed by Ireland, Spain and Luxembourg. First-time mothers in these countries become between 31 and 32 years old, and if they decide to have a second child, it comes into the world 2 years later.
The youngest mothers, as we have already said, live in our country. They are followed by Romania and Slovakia.
And another statistic that we are at the top of. It refers to children who, in the last reported year, were born in families where the parents were not married. In Bulgaria, more than half of the children born were like that. This practice also seems to be quite popular in Portugal and France.
For years, the leading positions have been occupied mainly by Scandinavian countries, while our country has been far behind. After 2010, however, this has changed and fewer and fewer couples in our country are getting married before having a child. Children are born in families without marriage the least in Greece - barely under 10%, making them the only ones with a percentage below 10.
Five of the European Union member states have not provided data.