Out of Wedlock Births by Country 2025
% of Births Born Out of Wedlock
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5 Countries with the Most Out of Wedlock Births
Country | % of Births Born Out of Wedlock↓ | Data Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Colombia | 87% | 2023 |
 | Chile | 78.1% | 2022 |
 | Costa Rica | 74% | 2023 |
 | Mexico | 73.69% | 2024 |
 | Iceland | 69.4% | 2019 |
 | Norway | 61.2% | 2023 |
 | Bulgaria | 59.7% | 2023 |
 | Portugal | 59.5% | 2023 |
 | France | 58.5% | 2023 |
 | Sweden | 57.4% | 2023 |
 | Slovenia | 56.5% | 2023 |
 | Denmark | 54.7% | 2021 |
 | Estonia | 53.8% | 2023 |
 | Belgium | 52.4% | 2018 |
 | Spain | 50% | 2023 |
 | New Zealand | 48.43% | 2024 |
 | Finland | 48.4% | 2023 |
 | United Kingdom | 47.6% | 2024 |
 | Czechia | 47.1% | 2023 |
 | Netherlands | 42.1% | 2023 |
 | Slovakia | 41.6% | 2023 |
 | Italy | 40.5% | 2023 |
 | United States | 40% | 2023 |
 | Austria | 40% | 2023 |
 | Australia | 39.9% | 2023 |
 | Luxembourg | 39% | 2023 |
 | Ireland | 38.4% | 2019 |
 | Latvia | 37.3% | 2023 |
 | Romania | 33.9% | 2023 |
 | Germany | 33.1% | 2023 |
 | Canada | 29% | 2024 |
 | Poland | 28.7% | 2023 |
 | Switzerland | 27.7% | 2020 |
 | Lithuania | 27.3% | 2023 |
 | Croatia | 26.1% | 2023 |
 | Malta | 25.9% | 2013 |
 | Hungary | 24.4% | 2023 |
 | Cyprus | 21.2% | 2019 |
 | Israel | 8.6% | 2023 |
 | South Korea | 4.72% | 2024 |
 | Turkey | 3.1% | 2023 |
 | Japan | 2.4% | 2023 |
- Data indicate the percentage (%) of all live births by mother’s whose legal marital status at the time of birth is something other than married.
Approximately 390,000+ babies are born in the world each day, and more and more children are born to unmarried parents, which is also known as being born out of wedlock. In the US, having children outside marriage was once rare. Today, nearly 4 in 10 births happen out of wedlock, which is part of a global shift showing that marriage and parenthood no longer always go hand in hand.
Countries Where 50% of Children Are Born out of Wedlock
The number of children born out of wedlock exceeds 50% in many countries, including Mexico, Iceland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and many others.
Some countries show especially high numbers of out of wedlock births. Chile and Costa Rica lead this list for 2019-2020 with 75.1% and 72.5% of children born out of wedlock, respectively. Overall, according to the 2019-2020 OECD data, the percentage of out of wedlock births exceeds 50% in a total of 15 countries.
Out-of-Wedlock Births and Single Parenthood
Not every child born out of wedlock grows up with a single parent. Many are born to cohabiting couples, but cohabiting unions tend to be less stable than marriages, which means children born outside marriage are more likely to experience family breakups and transitions.
The numbers tell the story. In the United States, about 40% of births are out of wedlock, and nearly one in four children lives with only one parent — the highest share in the developed world. In Iceland, where nearly 70% of children are born outside marriage, many still start life in two-parent households, but the higher rates of separation over time contribute to more single-parent families compared to countries with lower nonmarital birth rates.
Support for Families with Out-of-Wedlock Children
Governmental support for families with out of wedlock children varies by region. In Nordic countries like Norway and Denmark, where more than half of children are born outside marriage, support is structured around the child rather than the parents’ marital status. Universal benefits are available to all families; these include parental leave, subsidized childcare, and monthly child allowances. Thus, children in single-parent or cohabiting households receive the same opportunities as those in traditional two-parent homes.
By contrast, in countries like Mexico and Costa Rica, where out-of-wedlock births exceed 70%, formal government programs are more limited. There, much of the day-to-day support comes from NGOs, community groups, and extended families stepping in to provide such essentials as food, clothing, and education.
