Guide
What age for a first phone? Official advice across Europe.
No law in Europe says when a child may have a phone. But governments, health agencies and expert commissions have started to give parents a number.
In short. No European country has a law on the age for a child’s phone; the laws concern social media and phones at school. The official advice, all of it guidance rather than law, mostly says no own smartphone before about 13, with a phone without internet before that if a child needs to be reachable. France’s expert commission says no phone before 11; the Netherlands and Germany’s federal media programme say around 11 to 12. Parent pacts in many countries go further: a smartphone at 14, social media at 16.
What official bodies advise
Status on 4 November 2026. All of this is advice to parents, not law.
| Country | Who advises | First smartphone | Also says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | National Agency for Education and the health institute THL, January 2026 | Not before 13 | No social media before 13; screen-time limits by age |
| Sweden | Public Health Agency, for the government, June 2026 | Not before the year the child turns 13 | A simpler phone without internet is fine for keeping in touch; phones and tablets stay outside the bedroom at night |
| Denmark | The government’s Wellbeing Commission, February 2025, and an agreement with telecom shops, September 2025 | Not before 13 | Shops point parents of younger children to phones that only call and text |
| France | Expert commission “Enfants et écrans”, report to the President, April 2024 | From 13, with internet but without social networks | No phone before 11; from 11, a phone without internet; social networks from 15 |
| Netherlands | State Secretary for health, June 2025 | From the last year of primary school, around 11 to 12 | Social media from 15; no screens under 2; at most 3 hours a day from 12 |
| Germany | SCHAU HIN!, the federal family ministry’s media programme, September 2026 | Around 11 to 12, at the move to secondary school | A federal expert commission recommends a social media minimum age of 13 |
| Spain | Expert committee convened by the government, December 2024 | As late as possible | Between 12 and 16, if a phone is needed, one for calls only, without internet |
| Norway | Directorate of Health, 2025 | No age given | Ages 6 to 12: no internet without supervision and parental controls, no screens in the bedroom |
| Ireland | Department of Education guide, November 2023 | No age set by the state | Supports parents’ agreements to keep primary school children smartphone-free |
| Switzerland | National youth and media platform | No age given | Readiness matters more than age |
| United Kingdom | No official smartphone age | No age given | Social media to be barred for under-16s from 2027 |
Italy’s Society of Paediatrics, a professional body rather than the government, advises a personal smartphone not before 13. In Belgium, the Superior Health Council gave an opinion in December 2025; press reports describe it as advising against smartphones at meals and from bedtime. Austria, Poland and Portugal have no national age advice that we could find.
The phone in between
Several countries separate being reachable from being online. France’s commission suggests a phone without internet from 11; Sweden’s agency calls a simpler phone without internet fine for keeping in touch; Spain’s experts favour call-only phones for teenagers who need one; Denmark’s telecom shops point parents of under-13s to phones that only call and text.
What parent pacts pledge
In many countries, parents have organised to delay smartphones together, so that no child is the only one without:
- United Kingdom: Smartphone Free Childhood, no smartphone until at least 14 and no social media until 16.
- Ireland: the Greystones and Delgany schools’ “It Takes a Village” code of 2023, no smart device until secondary school.
- Netherlands: Smartphonevrij Opgroeien, a smartphone at 14 and social media at 16.
- Belgium: KidsUnplugged, a calls-and-texts phone before 14, a smartphone without social media from 14.
- Germany and Austria: Smarter Start and Smartphone-freie Kindheit, a smartphone at 14.
- Spain: Adolescencia Libre de Móviles, a first smartphone at 16.
- Norway and Sweden: Smarttelefonfri barndom, wait until lower secondary school; Ki-DS, wait until the end of compulsory school.
- Italy: Patti Digitali, where each local community agrees its own age.
What helps, whatever age you choose
- Decide with other parents. That is the pacts’ whole point: a child is not the odd one out.
- Start without internet if the reason is being reachable.
- Set the rules before the phone arrives: not in the bedroom at night, not at meals.
- Use the controls, and keep talking: in a 2026 EU survey, three in four parents talked with their child about social media every week.
The rules around it: social media age limits and phones in schools. The debate behind it: The Anxious Generation.
Where we stand
We make Lychnos Ring for adults; it is not meant for children. It is in development.
Sources, read 4 November 2026: Finnish National Agency for Education, recommendations for children’s use of digital devices; Government Offices of Sweden, new recommendation to wait with a smartphone, and the Public Health Agency’s screen-time recommendations; Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs, agreement on digital devices; Élysée, report of the commission “Enfants et écrans”; Rijksoverheid, advice for parents; SCHAU HIN!, is my child ready for a smartphone?; La Moncloa, Council of Ministers, 3 December 2024; Helsedirektoratet, screen advice for children and young people; Irish Times, 7 November 2023; Jugend und Medien, children aged 10 to 14; UK Government, government response, July 2026; Dire, Italian paediatricians’ recommendations; Paris Match Belgique, the Superior Health Council’s recommendations. Parent pacts: Smartphone Free Childhood, It Takes a Village, Smartphonevrij Opgroeien, KidsUnplugged, Smarter Start, Smartphone-freie Kindheit, Adolescencia Libre de Móviles, Smarttelefonfri barndom, Ki-DS, Patti Digitali. General information, not medical advice.
Questions
At what age should a child get a smartphone?
No European law sets one. Official advice mostly says not before about 13, as in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, often with a basic phone without internet before that if a child needs to be reachable. The Netherlands and a German federal programme suggest around 11 to 12.
What is a parent pact?
A voluntary agreement among parents at a school or in a town to delay smartphones together, so that no child is the only one without. Common pledges are a smartphone at 14 and social media at 16.