Birth Statistics data for the first quarter of 2005, published by EUSTAT, put the number of births in the A.C. of the Basque Country at 4,747, 3% higher than that registered in the same period of last year. By province, 674 children were born in Álava, with 6.4% growth, and in Bizkaia, with 2,468 births, the percentage of growth came to 4.5%. On the other hand, Gipuzkoa maintained the same figures, with 1,605 births.

As regards the order of birth, over half, 2,718, were the first-born child in the first quarter of 2005; 1,713 children (36.1%) were born into families where was already one other child and 6.7% of children were the third or subsequent child.

As for the distribution of births according to the age of the mother, the group of mothers aged 30-34 remained by far the most numerous, accounting for almost half the number of births. This group was followed by the next one up, those aged 35-39, with 27.2%, outnumbering the 25-29 age bracket, which contributed 17.9%. In the groups at either end of the age range, those aged under 25 accounted for 5.2%, while those aged over 40 were responsible for a mere 4.1% of births.

Rise in the number of single mothers

Children born outside of marriage made up 22.8% of the total, an increase of over two points with regard to the first quarter of 2004. Bizkaia, with 22%, was the only province where the rate was below that of the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole. The maternity age of this group was lower than that of mothers who had already had children, given that 15.8% of unmarried mothers were under 25 years old.