Le Matin.
In 2015, the average age Swiss mothers had their first child was unchanged from 2014, according to recent Eurostat data.
© Vladimir Mucibabic | Dreamstime.com
At a european level, only Italians and Spaniards left motherhood later than Swiss. In 2015, the average age of Swiss first-time mums was 30.6 years, slightly younger than Spanish first-time mothers (30.7). In Italy the average age was 30.8 years. Other european countries with ages exceeding 30 were Greece (30.2) and Luxembourg (30.2). The youngest mums were found in Bulgaria (26.0) and Romania (26.3), both below the EU average of 28.9 years.
The average age of first-time Swiss mums has climbed by 4% from 29.4 years in 2006. The trend is not new. Since 1970, the number of young mother has been in decline. In 1970, a third of first-time mothers were younger than 25. Today only 7% are. At the other end, the number first-time mums over 34 has nearly tripled to more than 30% of the total, up from 10%.
According to Swiss statistics, the upward age ticked up in Switzerland in 2016, climbing to an average age of 30.9 years.
The birth rate in Switzerland of 1.54 is around the european average of 1.58 children per woman. Among the EU Member States, France reported the highest fertility rate in 2015, with 1.96 live births per woman. The lowest fertility rate was recorded in Portugal (1.31).
More on this:
Le Matin article  (in French)  - Take a 5 minute French test now
Eurostat fertility statistics (in English)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
