(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, MARCH 15 - On average in the EU, women who gave birth to their first child in 2014 were aged nearly 29 (28.8 years). Across Member States, first time mothers were the youngest in Bulgaria and the oldest in Italy.

These are the latest data of Eurostat. In 2014, the mean age of women at birth of their first child stood at 27 or below in Bulgaria (25.8), Romania (26.1), Latvia (26.3), Estonia (26.6), Poland (26.9), Lithuania and Slovakia (both 27.0). In contrast, this age was 30 or above in Italy (30.7), Spain (30.6), Luxembourg (30.2) and Greece (30.0).

The largest increases in the fertility rate in the EU from 2001 to 2014 were observed in Latvia (from 1.22 in 2001 to 1.65 in 2014, or +0.43), the Czech Republic (+0.38), Slovenia (+0.37), Lithuania (+0.34), Bulgaria (+0.32) and Sweden (+0.31).

For EU as a whole, the fertility rate increased from 1.46 in 2001 to 1.58 in 2014 (+0.12).

In 2014, France (2.01) was the only EU Member State with a fertility rate above 2.0, followed by Ireland (1.94), Sweden (1.88) and the United Kingdom (1.81). Conversely, the lowest fertility rate wase observed in Portugal (1.23), ahead of Greece (1.30), Cyprus (1.31), Spain and Poland (both 1.32), Italy and Slovakia (both 1.37). (ANSA)