Press Release 02/12/2013
Births in the Basque Country decreased 3.1% in 2012
Births from foreign mothers increased and births from mothers with Spanish nationality decreased
In 2012 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 20,533, down 3.1% on the previous year, according to Eustat data. Among foreign mothers the increase was 1.5%, whilst among Spanish mothers there was a drop of 3.9%.
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 by provinces, Álava registered the biggest drop (-4.0%), followed by Bizkaia (-3.2%) and, lastly, Gipuzkoa (-2.3%), with 3,293, 10,342 and 6,898 births, respectively.
The birth rate was 9.3 births per thousand inhabitants, very far from the levels registered in the 1970s. The highest figures were in Álava (10.1 ‰) and Gipuzkoa (9.8‰), and the lowest in Bizkaia (8.9‰).
In 80.3% of births, the mothers were aged 30 or over
The largest group of births corresponded to women between 30 and 34 years old, who accounted for 40% of total births, despite an important drop. In contrast, births from mothers between 35 and 39 years old (33.6%) and mothers over 40 (6.8%) continued to increase. Children from mothers 25 to 29 years old (14.1%) and 20 to 24 years old (4.4%) continued to fall, in line with the last five years. Lastly, the 253 teenage mothers accounted for 1.2% of live births, and they, too, experienced a slight decrease.
17% of mothers were foreign nationals
Regarding nationality, 17% of new mothers were foreign nationals, who gave birth to 3,482 girls and boys. The most common countries were: Morocco with 575 mothers, Romania (295), Colombia (265), Bolivia (244), Ecuador (156), Algeria (152), Paraguay (151), Brazil (140) and China (135).
Foreign mothers had their children at an earlier age than Spanish mothers resident in the Basque Country, in almost half of the cases (48.9%) under the age of 30.
The average age of mothers was 33 years. This average was higher, at 33.7 years, for Spanish mothers, and 29.6 years for mothers of foreign nationality.
The average age of first time mothers, that is, those who had their first child in 2012, was 32 years old.
In 10 years the number of births outside marriage has doubled
In 2012, births outside marriage rose to 7,365, an increase of 1.3% with respect to 2011. These births represent 35.9% of total births. Álava and Gipuzkoa had percentages that were higher than the average for the Basque country, with 36.7% and 36.2% respectively, whilst Gipuzkoa was the only province with lower relative values (35%). If we compare the current percentage with that registered in 2002 (18%), we see that over the last 10 years the proportion of births outside marriage has doubled.
Taking into account the order of birth, in 2012 the first 11,252 births accounted for 54.8% of the total, second births for 36.6%, and third or more births for 8.6% of the total.
The number of births rose to 20,086, of which 19,561 were single, 512 double and 13 triple. Of the total number of births, 1,230 were premature (6.1%).
The sex ratio among live births in 2012 was 109 boys to every 100 girls. The average weights were 3,326 grams for boys and 3,202 grams for girls.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on BIRTH STATISTICS of the Basque Country
Database on BIRTH STATISTICS of the Basque Country