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Press release dated 17/09/2010

BIRTH STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ENAC) 1st QUARTER 2010

Births fell by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2010

The number of women over 40 having children increased

In the first quarter of 2010, 4,985 babies were born in the Basque Country, which was down 0.7% on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. By provinces, the number of births fell in Bizkaia and in Gipuzkoa, by 1.8% and 0.3% respectively, but increased by 2.2% in Álava. Specifically, 805 children were born in Álava, 2,496 in Bizkaia and 1,684 in Gipuzkoa.

With regard to the distribution of births according to the age of the mother, there continued to be a clear preponderance of the 30-34 year age group, in which 42.8% of the births took place. This group is followed by the next oldest group, aged between 35-39, which accounted for 28.9% of the births and was ahead of the 25-29 age group, with 15.9% of births.

The number of women over 40 having children has increased by 19.5% with respect to the same quarter of 2009, rising from 260 births to 323 in 2010. The number of births to women in this age group (6.5% of the total) exceeded those to women under 25, which accounted for 6.0%.

In terms of the birth order, over half (2,760) were first children in the first quarter of 2010; 1,834 (36.8%) were born to families that already had another child and 7.8% were the third or subsequent child.

Births outside marriage accounted for 30.9% of the total, practically the same percentage for the same quarter of 2009. Gipuzkoa (30.2%) was the only province with values over those for the Basque Country overall. Single mothers give birth when younger than the rest of women with children as a whole, as 13.4% of unmarried mothers were under 25.

Live births in the Basque Country. Comparative table.