Teenage mothers rare in careful Switzerland

Across Europe, 4% of first time mothers are under the age of 20, the same amount as those over the age of 40. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Numbers of teenage mothers in Switzerland are the lowest in Europe, according to the latest figures from Eurostat. 

In Switzerland, 0.8% of new mothers are under the age of 20. This is lower than any other European country, including the EU’s lowest, Denmark, where 1% of first-time mothers are teens.

In the EU as a whole, the statistics showExternal link an average of 4%. But wide variations exist: in Bulgaria and Romania, for example, where the rate of teen mothers is highest, the figure is about 12%. 

The figures reflect the situation in 2017 and show that the average age across the continent of first-time mothers was mostly (92%) between 20 and 39.  

Some 4% of first-time mothers across Europe were over the age of 40, with particularly high figures in Spain and Italy. 

+ Two-thirds of Swiss women are over 30 before giving birth 

Statistics released by EurostatExternal link earlier this year found that Swiss women were among the oldest on average to give birth for the first time, with a mean age of 30.7. The EU average was 29.1, up from 28.7 in 2013. Italy had the oldest mean age, at 31.1.

For the same year, 2017, the fertility rateExternal link in Switzerland was just below the EU average, at 1.5 children per woman. The highest rate is currently found in France, at 1.9.