Over 75 thousand women became first-time mothers in 2023

© Hollandse Hoogte
More than 75 thousand women became mothers for the first time in 2023. Their average age was 30.3 years. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) ahead of Mother's Day. In 2023, over 164 thousand babies were born in the Netherlands. Almost half of them (75.6 thousand children) were firstborns, while 37 percent were second children, 12 percent were third children and 5 percent were fourth or subsequent children.

More women becoming mothers at a later age

The highest number of children were born to women aged between 30 and 34 years: there were 117 births per thousand women in that age group. Births in women at very young or old ages are more uncommon: 10 babies per thousand women were born to women below the age of 25, and 8 babies per thousand women were born to those aged 45 or older. Ten years ago, it was more common for women to become mothers at a younger age. Now, motherhood at a later age is slightly more common. In total, 43 babies were born per thousand women aged between 15 and 49.

Women are 30.3 years old, on average, when they have their first child

On average, women in the Netherlands were 30.3 years old in 2023 when they had their first child; the same age as in the previous two years. In 2013, the average age was 29.4. In comparison with other European countries, Dutch women become mothers relatively late in life. In 2022, the average age of first-time mothers in the European Union was 29.7. In the Netherlands, fathers are generally around 2.5 years older than mothers when their children are born. In 2022, fathers were 32.8 years old, on average, when their first child was born.

Average number of children per woman is falling

The number of live births in the Netherlands each year depends on, among other factors, the number of women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years). The total fertility rate (TFR) takes this into account. This measure, which is the average number of babies born to each woman, has fluctuated over time; in the 1980s, it was around 1.50. Then it rose slowly to 1.80 in 2010 but has been falling ever since. In 2023, the total fertility rate was 1.43. This decline has not been the same across all ages and education groups since 2010, according to CBS’s study entitled Steady decline in fertility rate since 2010: the role of educational level.

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