Press release dated 18/03/2011

BIRTH STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ENAC) 3RD QUARTER 2010

The number of births rose by 0.9% in the third quarter of 2010

On average, married women become mothers 2 years later than single women

In the third quarter of 2010, 5,259 babies were born in the Basque Country, which was 0.9% up on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. The only province where the number fell was in Bizkaia, where 2,680 children were born, down 0.4%. There was an increase of 4.6% in Álava, with 802 births, and of 1.3% in Gipuzkoa, with 1,777 births.

Mothers were over 30 in three out of every four births

As regards the distribution of births according to the age of the mother, there continued to be a clear preponderance of the 30-34 age group, which accounted for 43.6% of the births. This group was followed by the group immediately above it (mothers 35-39 years old), which accounted for 29.3% of births and was ahead of the 25-29 age group, with 15.5% of births. At either end of the scale, the group of mothers under 25 accounted for 7.0% of births, whereas the figure for mothers over 40 was 5.2% of the total births.

Births outside marriage came to 32.8% of the total, a similar percentage as for the same period of the previous year. The average age of the single mothers was 31.2 years old, while it was just over 35 years old for mothers who were divorced and widowed. In this quarter, married women were on average 2 years old than single women when they gave birth.

Foreign women became mothers 4.4 years earlier than women with Spanish nationality

15.8% of women who gave birth in the Basque Country in the summer months of 2010 were foreigners. This percentage was only higher in Álava where it stood at 22.9%. The figure for the mothers who did not have Spanish nationality in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa was 15.1% and 13.7%, respectively.

The age at which women became mothers varied according to their nationality. In fact, the average age of the foreigners was 28.9 years old, compared to 33.3 years old for mothers with Spanish nationality.



Second and subsequent children increased by 2.3%

In terms of the birth order, over half (2,994) were first children in the third quarter of 2010; 1,871 (36%) were born to families that already had another child and 7% were the third or subsequent child. Bizkaia (40%) was the only province where the proportion of second or subsequent children was lower than the average for the Basque Country (43%).

The average growth of the number of second and subsequent children with respect to the same quarter of 2008 was 2.3%. The province will the most notable increase was Álava (20%). The number rose by 6.9% in Gipuzkoa, but was -5.3$ down in Bizkaia, which is the only province where the percentage fell.



For further information:

Basque Statistics Office C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tel:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es Contact: Martín González Hernández Tel:+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