In France, first menstruation or "menarche" occurs at around age 13. According to a survey conducted in 1994, half of all girls had already started menstruating at age 13. Most girls (9 out of 10) have their first period between ages 11 and 14.
At age 17, about half of French teenagers have experienced their first sexual intercourse. With a median age of 17.2 for women and of 16.4 for men in 2010, the gap between the sexes has narrowed to just a few months.
Around 63% of women of reproductive age who are married or in a union use a contraceptive method. The most widespread method worldwide is sterilization.
In 2014, about 56 millions abortions were performed accross the world. Slightly under half were high-risk abortions.
On average, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. However, in China, India and several other Asian and Caucasian countries, the proportion of newborn boys is abnormally high because couples practice sex-selective abortion.
In the past, it was very common for babies to die before their first birthday. Today infant mortality in France is very low. In 2013, fewer than four newborns (3,5) in 1,000 died before the age of one.
The mean length of life has more than tripled in France over the last two and a half centuries, from 25 years in 1740 to more than 80 years today.
According to UNAIDS estimates for the year 2012, 35.3 million persons are infected with the HIV virus worldwide and there were 2.3 million new infections and 1.6 million deaths that year.
