Press release 01/31/2013

BIRTH STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ENAC) 2011

In 2011 births from foreign mothers increased and births from mothers with Spanish nationality decreased

Over the last 10 years the proportion of births outside marriage has doubled

In 2011, the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 21,180, up 0.1% on the previous year, according to Eustat data. Among foreign mothers the increase was 2.2%, whilst among Spanish mothers there was a drop of 0.3%.

The strong downward trend in births that began in 1976 slowed down from the late 80s and reached its lowest level in 1994. From then onwards a slight upturn in births began, though not without ups and downs.

Regarding the distribution of births by territory, Álava, with 3,429 births, has shown the greatest increase (2.5%),whereas Bizkaia shows a slight increase (0.8%), and Gipuzkoa a decrease (-2.1%), with 10,687 and 7,064 births, respectively.

The birth rate was 9.7 per thousand inhabitants, very far from the 20 per thousand registered in the 1960s. The highest figures were in Álava (10.6 ‰) and Gipuzkoa (10.0‰), compared to the rate in Bizkaia (9.2‰).



In 79.6% of births in 2011, the mothers were aged 30 or over.

The largest group was women between 30 and 34 years old, who account for 41.6% of total births. The number of births from women over 35 continued to increase (38%), whilst births from the age groups 25 to 29 (14.7%) and 20 to 24 (4.6%) are falling. The 245 teenage mothers accounted for 1.2% of live births.

16.2% of mothers were foreign nationals in 2011

Regarding nationality, 16.2% of new mothers were foreign nationals, who gave birth to 3,429 girls and boys. The most common countries of origin were: Morocco with 539 mothers, Romania (364), Colombia (284), Bolivia (274), Ecuador (175), China (157), Algeria (140), Brazil (127) and Paraguay (117).

Foreign mothers have children at an earlier age than those of Spanish nationality resident in the Basque country. In fact, 52% of them have children under the age of 30, which clearly contrasts with 14% of mothers with Spanish nationality.

The average age of mothers was 32.8 years. This average was higher, at 33.5 years, for Spanish mothers, and 29.4 years for mothers of foreign nationality.

The average age for first time mothers was 31.9.

In 10 years the number of births outside marriage has doubled

In 2011, births outside marriage rose to 7,270, an increase of 4.8% with respect to 2010. These births represent 34.3% of total births. Álava and Gipuzkoa had percentages that were lower than the average for the Basque country, with 34.1% and 32.8% respectively, whilst Bizkaia was the only province with higher relative values (35.4%). If we compare the current percentage with that registered in 2001 (16.3%), we see that over the last 10 years the proportion of births outside marriage has doubled.

Regarding the order of birth, the number of newborns in families who already had children has increased, whilst the number of first-borns has fallen. The 11,582 newborns in 2011 represented a decrease of 1.2% with respect to the previous year, whilst the 9,598 children born who already had a brother or a sister represented an increase of 1.7%.

The number of births rose to 20,207, of which 20,175 were single, 515 double, 16 triple and 1 quadruple.

The sex ratio among live births in 2011 was 103 boys to every 100 girls. The average weights were 3,331 grams for boys and 3,199 grams for girls.

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.eus 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