Press release 26/09/2011
Births have risen 0.2% in the third quarter of 2011
Births rise in Bizkaia, but fall in Araba/Álava and Gipuzkoa
In the first quarter of 2011, there were 5032 births in the Basque Country, representing a rise of 0.2% in comparison to the same period last year, according to Eustat data. By province, the number of births fell in Araba/ Álava and in Gipuzkoa, by 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively, but rose by 2% in Bizkaia. More specifically, 792 children were born in Araba/Álava, 2552 in Bizkaia and 1688 in Gipuzkoa.
In the distribution of births according to the age of the mother, there continued to be a clear preponderance of the 30-34 year-old age group, accounting for 41.7% of the births. This group was followed by the group immediately above it (mothers aged 35-39), which accounted for 32.7% of births, ahead of the 25-29 age group, which represents no more than 13.8% of births.
The number of women aged 40 or over who became mothers fell by 8.6% in comparison with the same quarter in 2010, dropping from 325 births to 297 in 2011. Children born to mothers in this age bracket represent 5.9% of the total, the same percentage of newborns amongst mothers under the age of 25.
In terms of birth order, in the first quarter of 2011 more than half of the births, 2690, were firstborns; 1922 (38.2%) were born into families where there was already another child and births entailing the third or subsequent child accounted for 8.3% of births.
Births outside of marriage represented 33.4% of the total, a figure that is 2.4 percentage points higher than the figure for this group in the first quarter of 2010. Bizkaia, with 35.6%, is the only province with figures that are higher than the figures for the Basque Country as a whole. The maternity age of this group is lower than in the case of women who previously had children, as 12.7% of unmarried mothers were under the age of 25.
15% of mothers were of foreign nationality
15% of the births that occurred in the Basque Country in the first three months of 2011 entailed a mother of foreign nationality. This average is much higher in Araba/Álava, which recorded a figure of 25%, as opposed to Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, with 14% and 12%, respectively.
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