The children born in 2020 totaled 30,700, a 5.2% decrease compared with a year before. The birth rate in 2020 was 11.7 newborns per 1,000 people, this being the lowest rate in the last five years. Of the total number of born babies, 52.4% were boys, the ratio of boys to girls being 110.2:100, show data of the National Bureau of Statistics that are quoted by IPN.

According to the Bureau, the reproductive behavior among women of fertile age underwent transformations the last few years, which are highlighted both by the differences in age when giving birth to the first child and by the differences in areas of residence. The average age of the mother when giving birth to the first child in 2020 was 25.2. The women in rural areas gave birth at an earlier age – 24.0 years, as opposed to 26.9 years in urban areas.

Extramarital natality last year was 19.7%, which means that each fifth child was born outside marriage. In rural areas, 23% of the children were born outside marriage, in contrast to 14.8% in urban areas.

The number of children admitted to early education institutions declined from 149,700 in 2019 to 134,200 at the end of last year, a 10.4% decrease.

On January 1, 2021, the children in the Republic of Moldova came to 559,700. This means almost each fifth person was younger than 18.