OSLO - Norway's total fertility rate for women in 2017 was 1.62, falling to the lowest level ever recorded, the country's statistics bureau said on Tuesday.

A total of 56,600 children were born in 2017, some 2,300 fewer than 2016, in the Nordic country with a population of nearly 5.3 million people, according to a Statistics Norway report.

The total fertility rate in Norway has declined since 2009, when the rate was 1.98. The decline from 1.71 in 2016 to 1.62 in 2017 is significantly greater than the years before, the report said.

Compared to 2016, the fertility rate has decreased for all age groups in 2017. Women aged 31-34 years are still the most fertile, and women aged 25-29 years had the second highest fertility rate.

The mean age for a woman at the first child's birth was 29.3 years, an increase of 0.3 year compared to 2016. Thirty years ago, the corresponding age was about 25 years, according to the report.

For men, the mean age at their first child's birth was 31.7 years, the report said.

The mean age for all births is also increasing, and was 30.9 years for women and 33.8 years for men in 2017.