Press release 18/06/2010

BIRTH STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ENAC) 4th QUARTER 2009

Births fell in the Basque Country in the four quarter of 2009

The provisional annual total stood at 20,716, 2.3% down on the previous year

In the fourth quarter of 2009, 5,108 babies were born in the Basque Country, 0.6% down on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. 1,761 of the births were in October, 1,675 in November and 1,672 in December.

There were 792 births registered in Álava, which was up 2.6% and meant that this was the only province that registered an increase. On the other hand, both Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, with 2,607 and 1.709 births respectively, registered decreases with respect to the same quarter of the previous year.

According to the birth order, over half the births (2,927 births and 57.3%) were first children, 1764 babies (35%) were born to families that already had another child and there were 393 babies who were the third or more children (7.7%).

As refers to the distribution of births according the age of the mother, there continued to be a clear preponderance of the 30-34 year-old age group, in which 43,7% of the births took place. This group is followed by the next oldest group, aged between 35-39, which accounted for 29.6% and was ahead of the 25-29 age group, with 15.7% of births, while only 5.1% of the births were to mothers aged 20-24.

The number of mothers aged 40 and over (4.8%) was greater than women under 20 (1.2%).

One out of every three months is not married

Births outside marriage in the fourth quarter of 2009 accounted for 32.1% of the total, a very similar percentage for the same period of 2008. By provinces, the highest percentage was in Álava (34%), followed by Bizkaia (32.6%) and Gipuzkoa with 30.6%.



For further information:

Basque Statistics Office C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tlf:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es Contact: Martín González Hernández Tlf:+34-945-01 75 49 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 Further press releases on BIRTH STATISTICS of the Basque Country Database on BIRTH STATISTICS of the Basque Country