Countries With the Highest Births Outside Marriage
Every country with a figure for births outside marriage, ranked from highest to lowest. The top three are Chile (75.1%), Costa Rica (72.5%) and Mexico (70.4%). The middle country of the 42 has 41.2%.
What this measures
Share of births outside marriage, in % of live births. Source: OECD. For this measure, no agreed better direction.
Live births to mothers who were not married at the time of the birth. A registered partnership counts as unmarried. So where couples register a partnership rather than marry, this partly measures which legal option is on offer. No "better" direction is set.
The full ranking
Each country’s latest figure, from 2013–2021. The year beside each value says when it was measured.
| Rank | Country | Births outside marriage | Year | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chile | 75.1% | 2019 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 72.5% | 2020 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 3 | Mexico | 70.4% | 2020 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 4 | Iceland | 69.4% | 2019 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 5 | France | 62.2% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 6 | Bulgaria | 59.6% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 7 | Norway | 58.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 8 | Portugal | 57.9% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 9 | Slovenia | 56.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 10 | Sweden | 55.2% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 11 | Denmark | 54.2% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 12 | Estonia | 53.7% | 2019 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 13 | Netherlands | 53.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 14 | Belgium | 52.4% | 2018 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 15 | United Kingdom | 51.3% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 16 | New Zealand | 48.7% | 2021 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 17 | Czechia | 48.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 18 | Spain | 47.6% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 19 | Finland | 46.1% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 20 | Luxembourg | 41.6% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 21 | Austria | 41.2% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 22 | Slovak Republic | 40.7% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 23 | United States | 40.5% | 2020 | North America |
| 24 | Latvia | 39.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 25 | Ireland | 38.4% | 2019 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 26 | Australia | 36.5% | 2020 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 27 | Italy | 33.8% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 28 | Germany | 33.1% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 29 | Canada | 32.7% | 2020 | North America |
| 30 | Romania | 32.5% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 31 | Hungary | 30.4% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 32 | Switzerland | 27.7% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 33 | Lithuania | 27% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 34 | Poland | 26.4% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 35 | Malta | 25.9% | 2013 | Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan |
| 36 | Croatia | 22.8% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 37 | Cyprus | 21.2% | 2019 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 38 | Greece | 13.8% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 39 | Israel | 8.11% | 2019 | Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan |
| 40 | Korea, Rep. | 2.95% | 2021 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 41 | Turkiye | 2.8% | 2020 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 42 | Japan | 2.4% | 2020 | East Asia & Pacific |
More on births outside marriage
- Countries With the Lowest Births Outside Marriage
- Births outside marriage by country: trend over time and what it goes with
Related rankings
- Countries With the Highest Religious Attendance
- Countries With the Highest Religion Very Important
- Countries With the Highest Frequent Prayer
- Countries With the Highest Confidence in Religious Institutions
- Countries With the Highest Divorce Rates
- Countries With the Highest Women's Age at First Marriage
- Countries With the Highest Marriage Rates
- Countries With the Highest Children with One Parent
A ranking describes countries, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All country rankings.