Share of births outside marriage by country
Countries reporting
42
Highest
75.08
Chile
Lowest
2.4
Japan
Median
40.95
Years covered
62
1960–2021
Data points
2,139
What the numbers show
Share of births outside marriage is currently reported for 42 countries. The highest value is 75.08 in Chile; the lowest is 2.4 in Japan.
The median across all reporting countries is 40.95, and the mean is 40.84.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 31.
Over the past decade 37 countries rose and 5 fell. The largest increase was in Greece (up 89.0%), and the largest decrease in Hungary (down 25.5%).
Share of births outside marriage: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chile | 75.08 | 2019 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 72.53 | 2020 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 3 | Mexico | 70.43 | 2020 | up 18.7% | rising |
| 4 | Iceland | 69.4 | 2019 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 5 | France | 62.2 | 2020 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 6 | Bulgaria | 59.6 | 2020 | up 10.2% | volatile |
| 7 | Norway | 58.5 | 2020 | up 6.8% | volatile |
| 8 | Portugal | 57.9 | 2020 | up 40.2% | volatile |
| 9 | Slovenia, Republic of | 56.5 | 2020 | up 1.4% | volatile |
| 10 | Sweden | 55.2 | 2020 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 11 | Denmark | 54.2 | 2020 | up 14.6% | rising |
| 12 | Estonia, Republic of | 53.7 | 2019 | down 9.3% | rising |
| 13 | Netherlands | 53.5 | 2020 | up 20.8% | volatile |
| 14 | Belgium | 52.4 | 2018 | up 17.5% | volatile |
| 15 | United Kingdom | 51.3 | 2021 | up 8.5% | volatile |
| 16 | New Zealand | 48.67 | 2021 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 17 | Czech Republic | 48.5 | 2020 | up 20.3% | volatile |
| 18 | Spain | 47.6 | 2020 | up 34.1% | volatile |
| 19 | Finland | 46.1 | 2020 | up 12.2% | volatile |
| 20 | Luxembourg | 41.6 | 2020 | up 22.4% | volatile |
| 21 | Austria | 41.2 | 2020 | up 2.7% | rising |
| 22 | Slovak Republic | 40.7 | 2020 | up 23.3% | volatile |
| 23 | United States | 40.5 | 2020 | down 0.7% | rising |
| 24 | Latvia | 39.5 | 2020 | down 11.0% | volatile |
| 25 | Ireland | 38.4 | 2019 | up 15.0% | volatile |
| 26 | Australia | 36.54 | 2020 | up 6.1% | rising |
| 27 | Italy | 33.8 | 2020 | up 55.0% | volatile |
| 28 | Germany | 33.1 | 2020 | down 0.6% | volatile |
| 29 | Canada | 32.65 | 2020 | up 1.1% | rising |
| 30 | Romania | 32.5 | 2020 | up 17.3% | rising |
| 31 | Hungary | 30.4 | 2020 | down 25.5% | volatile |
| 32 | Switzerland | 27.7 | 2020 | up 48.9% | volatile |
| 33 | Lithuania | 27 | 2020 | up 5.1% | volatile |
| 34 | Poland | 26.4 | 2020 | up 28.2% | rising |
| 35 | Malta | 25.9 | 2013 | up 58.9% | volatile |
| 36 | Croatia, Republic of | 22.8 | 2020 | up 71.4% | volatile |
| 37 | Cyprus | 21.2 | 2019 | up 81.2% | volatile |
| 38 | Greece | 13.8 | 2020 | up 89.0% | volatile |
| 39 | Israel | 8.11 | 2019 | up 40.4% | rising |
| 40 | Korea | 2.95 | 2021 | up 39.3% | rising |
| 41 | Türkiye, Republic of | 2.8 | 2020 | up 7.7% | rising |
| 42 | Japan | 2.4 | 2020 | up 14.3% | rising |