Births, 2007

30 000 boys and 28 500 girls were born in Norway in 2007. Sogn og Fjordane and Rogaland are the counties with the highest fertility rates (TFR) with 2,09 and 2,08 children per woman respectively. The counties of Oppland and Hedmark have the lowest TFR with 1,73 and 1,74 children per woman respectively.

No change in the mother’s age at first birth

In 2007 the average age for women giving birth for the first time was 28.1 years. This figure has been stable for the last three years. In the 1990's, the average age for women giving birth for the first time increased, but it now seems to have stabilized. If we consider all births, the parent’s average age was 30.3 years for women and 33.4 years for men. Women aged 30-34 had the highest fertility rate with 123.2 children per 1 000 women. The fertility rate for women aged 25-29 was 122.3 children per 1 000 women. For women aged 30-39, fertility has increased in the last five years.

45 per cent of children born in 2007 had married parents, 42 per cent¹ had parents living in cohabitation and 13 per cent¹ had a single mother. The counties of Aust-Agder, Vest-Agder and Rogaland have the largest share of children with married parents with 53 per cent¹. Trøndelag has the largest share of children with parents living in cohabitation, also 55 per cent. Northern Norway has the largest share of children born by single mothers with 21 per cent¹.

More childless men than women

The share of men without children was larger than the corresponding figure for women in 2007. Of all 45 year old women, 12.0 per cent had no children. The corresponding figure for men was 20.5 per cent. In 1990, 9.0 per cent of the women and 13.3 per cent of the men aged 45 were childless. This means that childlessness has increased with 3.0 percentage points for women and 7.2 percentage points for men in the last 17 years.

¹The numbers has been changed, 17. 04. 2013.

Tables:

• Table 1 Live births and late foetal deaths. 1951-2007
• Table 2 Confinements of single and multiple births, by sex. 1991-2007
• Table 3 Age-specific fertility rates and total fertility rate. 1961-2007
• Table 4 Average age at birth. 1946-2007
• Table 5 Total fertility rate, by county. 1968-2007
• Table 6 Live births, by parity. 1978-2007
• Table 7 Live births, by parity, cohabitation status of mother and county. 2007
• Table 8 Number of children distributed, by age and cohort . Per cent