The Most Common Birth Months Around The World, Visualized

Not only are certain birth months more common than others, but there seems to be a link between both peak birth months and seasons and peak birth months and latitude.

After scouring through the data on live births by month of birth between 2000 and 2015 provided by the United Nations, the folks at Visme put together this data visualization that shows the most common birth months around the world.

According to the data visualization, the summer months of July, August and September are the most common birth months in higher latitude countries in the northern hemisphere. As the latitude decreases in subtropical and tropical countries, the peak birth months shift later in the year to October, November and December.

And for countries in the southern hemisphere, the peak birth months are clustered around March, April and May.

Is there a reason behind the popularity of certain birth months over others? If we were to assume a 40-week gestation period to determine the most common months of conception, October to December would top the list for countries in the northern hemisphere.

While it's hard to pin down specific reasons for these trends, research has shown that there is typically an increase in sexual activity around Christmastime. And a human reproduction study published in The Journal of Reproductive Rhythms has argued that the best time to conceive is when the temperature is between 50 and 70°F, typically fall weather temperatures in the US.

[Read more at Visme]