In 2001 the number of births in the A.C. of the Basque Country
came to 17,647, a 1.9% increase with regard to 2000, according to EUSTAT data.
The largest increase was in Gipuzkoa (2.7%), followed by Bizkaia (2.5%); in
Álava, however, there was a slight decrease of 2.1%.
The sharp falling trend in births that started in 1976 slowed down from the end of the 80s and reached its lowest rate in 1994. The figures in 2001 continued a slight upturn that started in 1995 and was interrupted in 1998.
74% of women who gave birth in 2001 were aged thirty or older. The biggest group corresponded to women aged between 30 and 34 with 46.1% of the total number of births. In addition, there was an increase with regard to 2000 in the group of mothers aged 35 and over, which continued to outnumber the 25 to 29 year olds.
In the last decade all maternal age groups under the age of 30 lost weight. Thus, the percentage of mothers under the age of 20 fell by half and the group aged 20 to 24 fell by 6 points, reaching a figure of 4.2%. The group of 25 to 29 year olds saw a sharper decline (16 points), representing 20.7% of all mothers in 2001. On the other hand, the group of mothers aged 35 or older doubled in number.
Taking into consideration the order of birth, first children in 2001 represented over 57%, a similar proportion to the previous year. However, third and subsequent born only made up 5.9%.
In 2001 the number of births to unmarried parents came to 2,875. this figure represents 16.3% of the total births and was slightly higher than in 2000 (15.2%).
The number of births came to 17.405, of which 17,111 were single, 277 twins, 15 triplets and 2 quadruplets.
The ratio of sexes between children born in 2001 was 108 boys for every 100 girls. On average, boys weighed 3,289 grams and girls weighed 3,170 grams.