Germany vs Italy: Share of children who were born outside of marriage
Germany
33.1%
in 2020
Italy
33.8%
in 2020
Germany rank
28th
Italy rank
27th
Share of children who were born outside of marriage over time
- Germany
- Italy
How they compare
Italy currently reports 33.8% against 33.1% in Germany, a difference of 0.7%.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 61 shared years of data; in 1960 it was Germany ahead.
Germany ranks 28th and Italy ranks 27th of 42 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Germany averaged higher in 6 and Italy in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | Italy | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.3% | 2.1% | 4.2% | Germany |
| 1970s | 8.7% | 2.9% | 5.8% | Germany |
| 1980s | 14.9% | 5.2% | 9.7% | Germany |
| 1990s | 16.9% | 7.8% | 9.1% | Germany |
| 2000s | 28.4% | 14.6% | 13.8% | Germany |
| 2010s | 34.4% | 29.0% | 5.4% | Germany |
| 2020s | 33.1% | 33.8% | 0.7% | Italy |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of children who were born outside of marriage, Germany or Italy?
- Italy, at 33.8% against 33.1% in Germany as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of children who were born outside of marriage between Germany and Italy?
- 0.7%, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Italy?
- 61 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2020.
- How do Germany and Italy rank globally for share of children who were born outside of marriage?
- Germany ranks 28th and Italy ranks 27th of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025); OECD (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of children who were born outside of marriage. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Share of all children born to mothers who were not married at the time of birth.