SOCIETY: Women in Cyprus are having their first child at an older age

Women in Cyprus are deciding to have their first baby later in life at a mean age of 29.7 in 2017 against the European Union average of 29.1.

---

In 2008 the age of women having their first child was a lower 28.3 while at the height of the 2013 financial crisis it crept up to 29.

The mean age of women in the EU on giving birth to their first child has gradually increased from 28.7 in 2013 to 29.1 in 2017.

The mean age has increased in all EU Member States over this period, though to varying degrees.

The largest change was in Estonia, where the mean age increased by 1.2 years, from 26.5 in 2013 to 27.7 in 2017. In Cyprus the change was 0.7 years between 2013-2017.

Over the same period there was little change in Czechia (up 0.1 years), Slovakia and Sweden (both up 0.2 years).

The Member States with the highest mean ages of women at birth of their first child in 2017 were Italy (31.1 years old), Spain (30.9) and Luxembourg (30.8). Cyprus had the seventh oldest mean age of first-child births.

In contrast, in three Member States the mean ages at which women had their first child were below 27: Bulgaria (26.1), Romania (26.5) and Latvia (26.9).