In 2025, few children were born in Estonia – only 9,240. However, 47.7% of them were born to married parents. This is more than in 2010, when 40.9% of children were born in wedlock.
In the 1990s, less than half of children were born to married parents. Before that, in the 1970s–1980s, most children were born in wedlock.
Kadri Rootalu, an employee of Statistics Estonia, says that people now marry at an older age. For example, among 30-year-old mothers, more than half of children were born in wedlock. For mothers under 20, this figure was only 17%.
Rootalu believes that people want security before having children. Marriage provides legal protection.
However, many marriages do not last long. 19% of children were born when the marriage had lasted less than a year. In 28% of cases, the marriage had lasted 1–2 years.
In 2025, 1,671 first children were born in wedlock. Many people wait several years before starting a family.
The average age of mothers in 2025 was 31.2 years. First-time mothers were on average 29.4 years old. This number has increased.
The most children were born to women aged 30–34. Women aged 25–29 and 35–39 also gave birth to many children. Mothers aged 40 and older accounted for 8%.
Mothers under 16 are now very rare. In the early 2000s, there were more of them.