LISBON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Portugal is the country in the European Union with the lowest fertility rate where the number of births in the past 15 years dropped the most, according to figures released by Eurostat on Wednesday.
According to the figures, between 2001 and 2015 the number of children born in Portugal dropped from 112,774 to 85,500.
Sweden's fertility rate on the other hand saw the highest growth in its fertility rate, seeing 91,466 births in 2001 and 114,870 in 2015.
Portugal has the lowest fertility rate in the EU, going from 1.45 children per woman in 2001 to 1.31 in 2015.
France (1.96) and Ireland (1.92) saw the highest fertility rates. The figures also revealed that the countries where women have children earlier in life were Bulgaria (26), Romania (26.3 years of age), Latvia (26.5 years of age) and Poland (27 years of age).
Women in Italy (30.8), Spain (30.7) and Greece (30.2) have children at a later age on average, according to the figures. In Portugal the average age women had their first child in 2015 was 29.5.
