Live births in Iceland were 4,835 in 2008, 2,470 boys and 2,365 girls. This is an increase of 275 children from the previous year when live births where 4,560. Only twice in the history of Iceland have there been more children born in one year, i.e. in 1960 and 1959, with 4,916 and 4,837 live births, respectively.
The total fertility rate was 2.14, compared with 2.09 in 2007 and 2.07 in 2006. During the 20th century, the total fertility rate peaked during the early 1960s. The total fertility rate for the years 1960 and 1959 was 4.27 and 4.24, respectively.
Almost two thirds of the children born in 2008 were born out of wedlock. However, the majority of children were born to parents in a consensual union (50.9%), while 13.3% were born to parents who were not living together. Just over a third (35.9%) was born to married couples. The share of extramarital births is considerably higher in the case of first born than with children of a higher birth order.
