How old are Dutch first-time mothers on average?
On average, women in the Netherlands were 30.3 years old in 2021 when they had their first child. In the space of twenty years, the age at which women first become mothers has gone up by over a year.
The age at which women in the Netherlands give birth to their first child has been advancing for decades. Over fifty years ago, in 1970, the mean age of women at first birth was 24.3 years. After that, this age went up year after year, reaching 29.1 years in 2000 and 30.3 years in 2021. The mean age of all mothers in the Netherlands giving birth annually went up from 27.4 years in 1970 to 30.7 years in 2000 and 31.7 years in 2021.
| Jaar | At birth of all children | At birth of first child |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 30.6 | 26.4 |
| 1951 | 30.5 | 26.2 |
| 1952 | 30.4 | 26.2 |
| 1953 | 30.4 | 26.2 |
| 1954 | 30.3 | 26.2 |
| 1955 | 30.2 | 26.1 |
| 1956 | 30.1 | 26.1 |
| 1957 | 30.0 | 26.0 |
| 1958 | 29.9 | 25.9 |
| 1959 | 29.8 | 25.8 |
| 1960 | 29.6 | 25.6 |
| 1961 | 29.5 | 25.4 |
| 1962 | 29.3 | 25.2 |
| 1963 | 29.1 | 25.0 |
| 1964 | 28.9 | 24.9 |
| 1965 | 28.6 | 24.7 |
| 1966 | 28.2 | 24.6 |
| 1967 | 27.9 | 24.5 |
| 1968 | 27.6 | 24.4 |
| 1969 | 27.5 | 24.3 |
| 1970 | 27.4 | 24.3 |
| 1971 | 27.2 | 24.3 |
| 1972 | 27.0 | 24.5 |
| 1973 | 26.9 | 24.7 |
| 1974 | 26.9 | 24.8 |
| 1975 | 26.9 | 25.0 |
| 1976 | 27.0 | 25.1 |
| 1977 | 27.2 | 25.3 |
| 1978 | 27.3 | 25.4 |
| 1979 | 27.4 | 25.5 |
| 1980 | 27.5 | 25.6 |
| 1981 | 27.6 | 25.7 |
| 1982 | 27.8 | 25.8 |
| 1983 | 27.9 | 26.0 |
| 1984 | 28.0 | 26.2 |
| 1985 | 28.2 | 26.5 |
| 1986 | 28.4 | 26.8 |
| 1987 | 28.7 | 27.0 |
| 1988 | 28.8 | 27.2 |
| 1989 | 29.0 | 27.3 |
| 1990 | 29.2 | 27.5 |
| 1991 | 29.4 | 27.7 |
| 1992 | 29.6 | 28.0 |
| 1993 | 29.8 | 28.3 |
| 1994 | 30.0 | 28.4 |
| 1995 | 30.2 | 28.6 |
| 1996 | 30.3 | 28.9 |
| 1997 | 30.4 | 29.0 |
| 1998 | 30.6 | 29.1 |
| 1999 | 30.6 | 29.1 |
| 2000 | 30.7 | 29.1 |
| 2001 | 30.8 | 29.2 |
| 2002 | 30.9 | 29.2 |
| 2003 | 31.0 | 29.3 |
| 2004 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2005 | 31.1 | 29.4 |
| 2006 | 31.1 | 29.4 |
| 2007 | 31.1 | 29.4 |
| 2008 | 31.1 | 29.4 |
| 2009 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2010 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2011 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2012 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2013 | 31.0 | 29.4 |
| 2014 | 31.1 | 29.5 |
| 2015 | 31.1 | 29.6 |
| 2016 | 31.2 | 29.7 |
| 2017 | 31.3 | 29.8 |
| 2018 | 31.4 | 29.9 |
| 2019 | 31.5 | 30.0 |
| 2020 | 31.6 | 30.1 |
| 2021 | 31.7 | 30.3 |
Five percent of babies born to 40‑plus mothers
The rising mean age of mothers is part of a long-standing trend: There are increasingly fewer younger mothers and more older mothers. In 2021, 5.9 percent of women who gave birth to a child were younger than 25. This was 9.7 percent in 2000, and in 1970, more than a third of all mothers were still under 25. Almost 5 percent of babies born in 2021 had a mother aged 40 or older. In 2000, that figure was 2.6 percent. That was roughly the same as in 1970 (2.9 percent), but back then 40‑plus mothers were more likely to already have one or more children. In 1970, 7.2 percent of the babies with a 40‑plus mother were first-borns. This was 22.9 percent in 2000, and 26.7 percent in 2021.
Most often, mothers are 30–35 years old at child birth. Before the turn of the century, the majority was still among mothers under 30.
| 1970 | 2000 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 25 yrs | 34.6 | 9.7 | 5.9 |
| 25 to 29 yrs | 34.9 | 27.8 | 25.2 |
| 30 to 34 yrs | 19.2 | 42.2 | 42.3 |
| 35 to 39 yrs | 8.5 | 17.8 | 21.8 |
| 40 yrs and over | 2.9 | 2.6 | 4.7 |
More live births in 2021
There were 179.4 thousand live births in 2021. This is about 10 thousand up annually on the period between 2017–2020. Especially women aged 30 or older had more children. Women aged 25–29 also had more children in 2021. Over the period 2010–2020, the number of births at these ages had actually decreased. The downward trend did continue among women under 25.
| Leeftijd | 2017 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20 yrs |
2.02 | 1.75 | 1.44 |
| 20 to 24 yrs | 22.48 | 18.44 | 17.94 |
| 25 to 29 yrs | 86.92 | 78.58 | 81.83 |
| 30 to 34 yrs | 129.93 | 126.76 | 134.83 |
| 35 to 39 yrs | 68.3 | 68.65 | 73.86 |
| 40 to 44 yrs | 13.33 | 14.66 | 15.35 |
| 45 yrs and over | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.87 |
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