Births, Slovenia, 2019

Fewer than 20,000 live births

From 2008 to 2017, there were more than 20,000 live births every year in Slovenia. For the first time after ten consecutive years fewer than 20,000 children were born in 2018; in 2019 this happened for the second time.

In 2019, 19,328 children (9,977 boys and 9,351 girls) were born, 257 (or 1.3%) fewer than the year before. For the first time after 12 years, fewer than 10,000 boys were born, while the number of live-born girls fell below 10,000 already in 2016.

The value of the basic indicator of fertility, which shows an average number of live births per 1,000 population, was 9.3 (2018: 9.5). About the same value was recorded in 2006 (9.4). Thirty years ago the value of this indicator was higher: 11.7.

Fertility below the population replacement level is characteristic for Slovenia. The total fertility rate in 2019 was the same as in 2018: 1.61. Thirtyone years ago the values were similar but the births by the age of mother were distributed differently: at that time relatively  the most children were born to women aged 23, in 2019 to women aged 29.

The mean age of mother at birth higher again

One of the reasons for the decline in fertility in recent years is that more and more women are postponing having their first child. In 2019, the mean age of first-time mothers was 29.6 years (2018: 29.5). Thirty years ago, such mothers were 6 years younger. Consequently the mean age of all mothers (regardless of the order of birth) was also higher in 2019 (31.1 years) and in thirty years increased by just over five years (from 25.9 in 1989).

The second important reason is the decline in the number of women in reproductive age (15-49 years), which is the consequence of the fertility decrease in the 1980s and 1990s. In one year, from the beginning to the end of 2019, the number of women in reproductive age decreased by 2,300. The number of women aged 25 to 34, when fertility is the highest, declined the most.

58% of children born to unmarried mothers

8,182 (42.3%) children were born to married parents and 11,146 (57.7%) to unmarried parents. The mean age of married mothers (31.5 years) was 0.6 years higher than the mean age of unmarried mothers (30.9 years).

Most mothers with foreign citizenship from Bosnia and Herzegovina

16,175 children were born to parents who are both citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, and 1,339 (6.9%) to parents who are both foreign nationals.
One in nine children (2,183 in total) was born to a mother with foreign citizenship, the most to mothers with the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina (40%) and Kosovo (18%). 254 (12%) mothers had the citizenship of one of the other EU Member States.  Mothers with foreign citizenship were on average 29.5 years old and were 1.8 years younger than mothers with Slovene citizenship.

And some additional interesting findings for new-borns in 2019

• Luka was the most popular name for new-born boys for the 21st consecutive year. The top girls’ name was again Zala (the name was number one already in 2016 and 2017). The name Luka was given to 282 (2.8%) boys, Zala to 272 (2.9%) girls. Compared to the top ten list from 2018, four new names entered the top ten list for 2019: Ela, Hana, Zoja, and Oskar replaced Nika, Maša, Lana, and Lovro.

• On average 53 children were born in Slovenia in 2019 (one less than a year before). The most children (81) were born on 2 October and 16 May, the fewest (30) on 24 February and 30 June (both days were Sundays).

• Sixty children were born on their mother's birthday, and 69 on their father's birthday.

• In three cases triplets and in 347 cases twins were born. Most of them (131) were mixed couples; in 112 cases two boys were born, and in 104 cases two girls were born.

• 46% of mothers in 2019 were first-time mothers.

Natural decrease in 2019

As in 2017 and 2018, Slovenia registered natural decrease in 2019. 19,328 children were born and 20,588 people died, so natural decrease was −1,260.

New in the SiStat Database

In the SiStat Database the data on births and natural change of population are supplemented with new data for 2019 at different territorial levels.
The SiStat Database is supplemented also with the table on the number of live births by days of birth from 2000 onwards.