Births, Slovenia, 2016

Basic data on live-births in 2016

In 2016, 20,345 children were born in Slovenia; the birth rate was 9.9 per 1,000 population. For the ninth consecutive year a generation with more than 20,000 children was born, but the number is lower every year. 296 fewer children (1.4%) than a year before were born. In recent years, the generations of women in the reproductive age (15–49 years) have been declining. From the beginning to the end of 2016, the number of women between 15 and 49 years decreased by almost 7,000, among them, the number of those who are the most reproductive (25–34 years) decreased by 4,000. Generations of fewer than 10,000 women are slowly entering the period when fertility is the highest, while generations that are leaving the fertile period (only few women aged 40 years or more are having children) are stronger with around 14,000 to 15,000 women.

The average number of live born children per woman of childbearing age (at the present mortality rate and on the assumption that the woman will reach her 49th birthday) was 1.58 in 2016, the same as in 2014 and slightly higher than in 2015 (1.57).

The mean age of mothers at birth increased again. Women who gave birth for the first time in 2016 were on average 29.4 years old (2015: 29.3). The mean age of mothers at all births (regardless of the birth order) was 30.9 years (2015: 30.7). 43% of women who became mothers in 2016 for the first time were aged 30 years or more.
Fathers of children are on average 3 years older than mothers; this was also the case in 2016 (they were on average 33.5 years old). 14 fathers were more than 60 years old, and 55 were younger than 20 years. For 301 children the father was not (yet) known. In 2016, 11,916 children were namely born to unmarried mothers and for the majority of them fathers acknowledge paternity in front of the administrative authorities or social work centres.
8,429 children were born to married parents; this is the lowest share ever (41.4%).

17,314 children were born to parents who are both citizens of the Republic of Slovenia. 1,166 children (5.7%) were born to parents with foreign citizenship. This share corresponds to the share of foreign citizens living in Slovenia at the end of 2016 (5.5%).

And some interesting findings for new-borns in 2016

For the 18th consecutive year most new-born boys were named Luka. However, the name Luka was the most common in fewer than half of statistical regions. In other statistical regions the top boys name was Filip, Nik, Jan, Jakob, Leon or Lan.

In 2016, for the first time most new-born girls were named Zala. This name was the most popular in half of Slovenian statistical regions. In the other half the most popular girl’s name was Eva, Hana, Ema, Klara or Mia.

In 387 cases twins and in two cases triplets were born. Mothers of children who were born as twins or triplets were on average 1.3 years older than mothers who gave birth to one child only.

On average 56 children per day were born in Slovenia in 2016. On average, 59 children per day were born on a regular working day (Monday to Friday), and 46 children per day on weekends (Saturday and Sunday).

65 children were born on their mother's birthday, 71 on their father's birthday.

Natural increase positive again

In Slovenia, a natural increase was recorded for the eleventh consecutive year; in 2016, 656 people more were born than died. Compared to 2015 the natural increase was lower by 151 persons, but it was still positive. The value of natural increase per 1,000 population decreased from 0.4 in 2015 to 0.3 in 2016.

Data on natural increase by municipalities and regions are published on the SI-STAT Data Portal.

Interactive map 1: Live births per 1,000 population, municipalities, Slovenia, 2016