The birth rate in the A.C. of the Basque Country is among the lowest in EU-25 countries, according to Eustat data for 2004, which are the latest available for all the territorial spheres. Therefore, at 9.3 births per 1,000 inhabitants, it is under the EU-25 average, standing at 10.5 births per 1000 inhabitants. It is equal to Poland (9.3) and is only ahead of Slovenia (9.0), Lithuania (8.9), Latvia (8.8) and Germany (8.6). The Spanish birth rate is 10.6 per 1000 inhabitants.

If this data is compared with the 1975 figures, a radical change over the last 30 years can be seen, as the A.C. of the Basque Country then had 19.1 births per 1000 inhabitants. While the figure for Spain was 18.8 in that year, the average for this indicator for the countries making up the EU-25 stood at 14.4 births. The difference between both years (1975-2004) is much less marked than in our Community.

Births and Deaths (per 1000 inhabitants) in the EU-25

Source: Eustat and Eurostat

As far as the mortality rate is concerned, if there were 7.1 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in the A.C. in the Basque Country in 1975, this figure had increased to 8.9 deaths in 2004. In Spain, the figures stood at 8.4 and 8.7 deaths respectively for the same years. If the figures for the EU-25 countries are analysed, the average stood at 10.7 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in 1975,compared to 9.5 deaths in 2004.

Another important demographic indicator refers to life expectancy. According to data for 2005, this stands at 77.3 for men and 84.8 for women in the A.C. in the Basque Country. The rate for women is the highest in all European Union countries. In Spain, the figures were 77.4 for men and 83.9 for women. Data for the EU-25 countries reveal that the average was 75.8 for men and 81.9 for women, which are lower than the figures for our Community.

Finally, it is also noteworthy that the A.C. of the Basque Country had the highest population percentage aged 65 or over (18.4%) of all the EU-25 countries and also the lower population aged 14 or under (12.2%). These percentages were 16.8% and 14.5% for Spain, respectively. If 1995 is taken as the reference, the figures were 15.1% for the 65 and over age group and 13.3% for the 14 and under group in A.C. of the Basque Country and 15% and 16.9%, respectively, for Spain.