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Press Release 13/03/2015

BIRTH STATISTICS. III/2014

Births dropped 0.7% in the third quarter of 2014

Births outside marriage accounted for 40% of the total

In the third quarter of 2014 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 4,940, which was a slight drop of 0.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. The province that experienced the biggest decrease was Bizkaia, where 2,487 boys and girls were born, down 3.6%; in Gipuzkoa, with 1,066 births, there was a decrease of 0.6%. On the other hand, Álava, with 847 births, saw an increase of 8.7%.

8 out of every 10 mothers were over the age of 30

Regarding the distribution of births according the age of the mother, there continued to be a clear preponderance of the 30-34 year-old age group, in which 37.8% of the births took place. This group was followed by the group immediately above it (mothers aged 35-39), which accounted for 35.1% of births, nearly tripling that of the 25-29 age group, with 13.3% of births. Amongst the groups at the two extremes, those under the age of 25 accounted for 6.2% of births, whilst those over 39 accounted for 7.7%.

Births outside of marriage accounted for 40% of the total, which was higher than the 38% for the same period of the previous year. The average age of mothers stood at 33.2: for married mothers it stood at 33.6; for single mothers it was 32.4, for divorcees it was 35.7 and for widows, a very small group consisting of only 3 women, the average age rose to 35.3 this quarter.

Foreign mothers are 3.7 years younger than those with Spanish nationality

Of the women who became mothers in the Basque Country in July, August and September 2014, 18.8% were foreign nationals. This percentage was only higher in Álava, where it stood at 26%, whereas in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa the proportion of mothers with foreign nationality stood at 17.5% and 17.2%, respectively.

The age at which women became mothers varied according to their nationality. In fact, the average age of foreign mothers was 30.2, compared to 33.9 for mothers with Spanish nationality.

According to the order of birth, more than half (2,660 boys and girls) were first children in the summer months of 2014; 1,826 (37%) arrived in families that already had another son or daughter and 9.2% were third or subsequent children.

The number of first-time mothers was down 2.3%, but for women who had their second child there was an increase of 0.5%, and for women who had their third or subsequent child the increase was 4.4%, all with respect to the same quarter of 2013.

Table 1. Live births to mothers residing in the Basque Country. Comparative table