Press Release 20/10/2014
Births in the Basque Country fell by 7% in 2013
The birth rate stood at 8.8 births per thousand inhabitants
In 2013 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 19,118, down 6.9% on the previous year, according to Eustat data. Among foreign mothers the decrease was 2.7%, whilst among Spanish mothers there was a drop of 7.7%.
Regarding the distribution by province, Gipuzkoa saw the greatest fall (-8.9%), followed by Bizkaia and Álava (both -5.9%), such that the number of births stood at 6,287, 9,732 and 3,099, respectively.
The birth rate was 8.8 births per thousand inhabitants, well below the levels recorded in the mid-70s. The highest rate was in Álava (9.7‰), followed by Gipuzkoa (8.9‰) and Bizkaia (8.5‰).
In 81.1% of births the mothers were aged 30 or over
The largest group was women between 30 and 34 years old, who accounted for 38.9% of total births, even though the rate had fallen by slightly more than one percent with respect to 2012. On the other hand, births continued to rise among mothers aged 35 to 39 (34.6%) and over 40 (7.6%). The number of babies to mothers aged 25 to 29 (13.5%) and 20 to 24 (4.1%) continued to fall in line with trends over the last 5 years. Finally, teenage mothers made up 1.3% of the total and also fell slightly.
17.7% of mothers were foreign nationals
Regarding nationality, 17.7% of new mothers were foreign nationals, who gave birth to 3,388 girls and boys. The most common countries were: Morocco with 589 mothers, Romania (275), Colombia (264), Bolivia (252), Ecuador (153), Algeria (147), Paraguay (130), Brazil (122) and China (110).
Foreign mothers had children at a younger age than those of Spanish nationality resident in the Basque Country: in 45.7% of cases under 30 years of age, compared to 13.1% of mothers of Spanish nationality.
The average age of mothers was 33.2 years. This average was higher, at 33.9 years, for Spanish mothers, and 30 years for mothers of foreign nationality.
The average age for first-time mothers - those who had their first child in 2013 - was 32.3.
In 10 years the number of births outside marriage has doubled
In 2013, births outside marriage rose to 7,250, a decrease of 1.6% with respect to 2012. These births represent 37.9% of the total. Bizkaia and Álava had percentages that were higher than the average for the Basque country, with 39.2% and 38.1% respectively, whilst Gipuzkoa was the only province with lower relative values (35.9%). If we compare the current percentage with that registered in 2003 (20%), we see that over the last 10 years the proportion of births outside marriage has doubled.
Regarding the order of birth, the 10,255 first-born children in 2013 made up 53.6% of the total; second-borns, 37.8%; and third-borns and subsequent children, 8.6% of the total.
The number of births rose to 18,673, of which 18,172 were single, 490 double and 11 triple. Out of all births, 1,130 were premature (6.1%).
The sex ratio among live births in 2013 was 106 boys to every 100 girls. The average weights were 3,325 grams for boys and 3,197 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