Press release 13/11/2015
The population of the Basque Country has started to grow again after 2 years of decline
The number of centenarians has doubled in 10 years
The population of the Basque Country in 2015 amounts to 2,173,210 individuals according to Eustat data, which means the population decreases seen in previous years have been interrupted. Specifically, the Basque population has increased by 333 people compared with 2014, even though there are still 8,380 fewer people than in 2012, a year which saw a historic high for the Basque population.
Bizkaia was the only province where the population fell in 2015, with 2,772 fewer inhabitants, in addition to the decreases in 2013 and 2014 (9,920 people). Álava’s population rose by 1,745 people, reaching a number nearly equal to the 2012 population. Gipuzkoa's population is continuing to grow, which started in 2012. Since then, its population has risen by 4,397 people, 1,360 of which came last year.
The only Basque capital to experience a population increase was Vitoria-Gasteiz, where the population went up by 1,837 people. This figure exceeds the population decreases experienced by San Sebastián and Bilbao put together – 106 and 1,209 inhabitants respectively. The populations of these two capitals have been falling since 2009, a year that saw a historic population high for both cities. Vitoria-Gasteiz, on the other hand, saw a population increase last year that balanced out the only population decreases it has seen, which were in 2013 and 2014, with 2015 being the year in which it has had its highest ever population.
Getxo, Santurtzi, Basauri, Portugalete and Sestao – all part of Greater Bilbao – are the municipalities that underwent the greatest population decreases in 2014, having recorded 1,842 fewer people. Between 2012 and 2015, the population losses in these municipalities came to 5,359 people. The municipalities with the highest population density in the Basque Country, above 6,000 inhabitants per km2, are concentrated in this region, with the highest density occurring in Portugalete, with 14,548 inhabitants per km2 in 2015.
That said, municipalities such as Kuartango, Lagrán, Bernedo, Arraia-Maeztu and Valle de Arana, belonging to the region of Montaña Alavesa and with fewer than 7 inhabitants per km2, also lost population last year.
In 24 municipalities of the Basque Country more than a quarter of the population is 65 or over
At 21.1%, the Basque Country in 2015 has a greater proportion of the population over the age of 65 than Spain (18.4%). Castilla y León, Principado de Asturias and Galicia, with over 24%, are the Autonomous Communities that have higher proportions. If compared with Europe, only Italy exceeds the Basque figures. Ten years prior to this, the proportion was 3 percentage points lower.
92 municipalities exceed the average percentage of the Basque Country of 21.1%, whilst 159 presented the same or a lower percentage. Amongst those that exceed it are Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián and Barakaldo, which account for almost 29% of the total population of the Basque Country. Between 2005 and 2015, the proportion of people aged over 65 decreased in 108 municipalities, even though they only make up 5.3% of the total population.
There is quite a lot of disparity between the municipalities regarding the percentage of people 65 and over, where it goes from 9.8% in Irura and Elburgo/Burgelu to 39.6% in Lagrán. There are also four municipalities with a percentage equal to or lower than 10%. These are, along with the ones previously mentioned, Alegría-Dulantzi and Larrau. The total population of these municipalities has increased to 5,551. On the other hand, 3 municipalities had a percentage over 30%: Lagrán as mentioned, Harana/Valle de Arana and Elantxobe, which have a combined total of 823 residents.
The high proportion of elderly people in all of the municipalities in the region of Montaña Alavesa caused its figure to reach almost 27.4%, whilst the region with the next-highest percentage, Markina-Ondarroa, has 22.6% of people 65 and over, with Plentzia-Mungia coming last, where the percentage is 15.7%.
People aged 85 and above went from constituting 1.9% of the total population in 2005 to 3.4% of the total population in 2015, which is a 73% increase over those 10 years. This increase has varied significantly across the regions. In Duranguesado, the increase was 87%, whilst in Estribaciones del Gorbea, the increase was 16%. This process has been very dramatic for the centenarian population, with a rise in the number of centenarians from 299 in 2005 to 593 ten years later, which is double the 2005 figure.
In the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, there was a ratio of 1.4 people over 65 to every person under 16, exceeding the ratio for Spain as a whole, which is 1.2, but still far from the ratio in Asturias, which is 2.1.
This ratio is exceeded in 78 municipalities, with Lagrán (11 to 1), Harana/Valle de Arana (5.6 to 1), Moreda de Álava/Moreda Araba and Añana (both 4 to 1) being extreme cases. On the other hand, municipalities such as Larraul, Irura, Alegría-Dulantzi and Baliarrain had more than 2 young people up to the age of 15 for each person aged 65 and over.
Population distribution by age is most extreme in the municipalities of Álava where, due above all to its small size and the fact that any demographic phenomena, such as migration, may alter distribution.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on municipal inhabitants statistics of the Basque Country
Municipal inhabitants statistics of the Basque Country databank