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Birth year · Generation Alpha · 2010–2024

Born in 2012?
Generation Alpha.

Peak global births for the decade. More people were born in 2012 than in any other year of Generation Alpha.

The short answer

A baby born in 2012 is Generation Alpha, the cohort born 2010–2024. They turn 14 in 2026, and will be 18 in 2030. Roughly 139.9 million babies were born worldwide that year.

Generation
Generation Alpha
Cohort 2010–2024
Age in 2026
14
Turning 15 next birthday
Turns 18 in
2030
Voting age in most countries
Age in 2050
38
Alphas are 26–40, Betas 11–25
Babies born worldwide
139.9 million
UN World Population Prospects
Place in the cohort
Year 3 / 15
Of 15 years in Generation Alpha

What happened in 2012

  • Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion in April.
  • Curiosity lands on Mars in August.
  • The last full year before short-form video became the dominant childhood medium.

Events are included where they plausibly shaped childhood for this cohort, not as a general history of the year.

Every milestone, dated

2016
Starts school (age 4, UK and Ireland)

Age 4 — already passed

2018
Starts school (age 6, most countries)

Age 6 — already passed

2019
Starts school (age 7, Sweden, Poland, Indonesia)

Age 7 — already passed

2025
Turns 13

Age 13 — already passed

2030 · ahead
Finishes high school in the US (class of, if born January–August)

Age 18

2030 · ahead
Turns 18 — voting age in most countries

Age 18

2033 · ahead
Turns 21

Age 21

2042 · ahead
Turns 30

Age 30

2062 · ahead
Turns 50

Age 50

The cohort this year belongs to

2010 — 2024

Generation Alpha

The cohort born between 2010 and 2024 — the first born entirely in the 21st century, and the first raised with touchscreens and algorithmic feeds from infancy.

  • Cohort size: ~2.0bn
  • Defining shift: The first generation born entirely in the 21st century
  • Aged 2–16 in 2026
NEIGHBOURING YEARS

One year either side

Cohort boundaries are hard lines drawn through a continuous thing. A child born a day before or after one of them lands in a different generation with an identical childhood.

Frequently asked

What generation is someone born in 2012?

They are Generation Alpha. The cohort runs from 2010 to 2024 under the McCrindle boundaries used throughout this site.

How old is someone born in 2012?

They turn 14 during 2026, depending on whether their birthday has passed.

How many babies were born in 2012?

About 139.9 million worldwide, according to UN World Population Prospects.

When will someone born in 2012 start school?

Between 2016 and 2019, depending on the country. The United Kingdom and Ireland start at four, most countries at six, and Sweden, Poland and Indonesia at seven.

When does someone born in 2012 turn 18?

In 2030.

What graduation year (class of) is someone born in 2012?

In most US states, class of 2030 if born January to August and class of 2031 if born September to December, because 1 September is the most common kindergarten cut-off. In England and Wales they take A-levels in the summer of 2030 (born January to August) or 2031 (born September to December).

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