39,018 children were born in Moldova in 2008

As many as 39,018 children were born in Moldova last year, by 1,045 or 2.8% more than in 2007. The birth rate in rural areas remains higher than in urban areas. In 2008, the birth rate was 10.9 live newborns per 1,000 people, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. According to the Bureau, more than half of the newborns were boys, the ratio of boys to girls being 106:100. From juridical viewpoint, the number of children born outside marriage continues to decline, from 23.3 in 2006 to 22.3 in 2008. Yet, the number of such children is still high. The specialists say that the number of babies born by mothers younger than 20 continues to decrease. These babies make up 10.5% of the total number of newborns, as against 11.3% in 2007 and 13.0% in 2006. However, the number of newborns of the first degree (the first baby of a woman – e.n.) had slightly increased last year, constituting 53.7%. But the number of newborns of the second, third degree and over had fallen. 84.4% of the children born in families with many children are from villages. The average age of a mother that gave birth to the first child in 2008 was 23.1. The mothers from rural areas give birth at an earlier age (22.2 years) than those from urban areas (24.4 years).