Press Release 18/10/2016
Births in the Basque Country fell by 2.7% in 2015
The birth rate stood at 8.7 births per thousand inhabitants
In 2015 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 18,851, down 2.7% on the previous year, according to Eustat data. Among mothers of Spanish nationality the decrease was 4.5%, whilst among foreign mothers there was an increase of 5.1%.
Regarding the distribution by province, Bizkaia saw the greatest increase (-4.2%), followed by Álava (-3.6%), whereas in Gipuzkoa there was no variation, such that the number of births stood at 9,331, 3,159 and 6,361, respectively.
The birth rate was 8.7 births per thousand inhabitants, well below the levels registered in 1976 (19.7‰). The highest rate was in Álava (9.8‰), followed by Gipuzkoa (9‰) and Bizkaia (8.2‰).
In 81.4% of births the mothers were aged 30 or over
The largest group was women between 30 and 34 years old, who accounted for 37.7% of total births, even though the rate had fallen by slightly more than half a percentage point with respect to 2014. On the other hand, births continued to rise among mothers aged 35 to 39 (35.2%) and 40 and over (8.5%). The number of babies from mothers aged between 25 and 29 (13.3%) and between 20 and 24 (4.1%) has decreased, following the trend from previous years. Finally, teenage mothers made up 1.2% of the total and also fell slightly.
19.8% of mothers were foreign nationals
Regarding nationality, 19.8% of new mothers were foreign nationals, who gave birth to 3,732 girls and boys. The most common countries were: Morocco with 680 mothers, Romania (349), Colombia (237), Bolivia (219), Nigeria (198), Algeria (179), Paraguay (153), Nicaragua (123), Ecuador (120) and Brazil (106).
Foreign mothers had children at a younger age than those of Spanish nationality resident in the Basque Country: in 40.6% of cases they had children under 30 years of age, compared to 13.2% of mothers of Spanish nationality.
The average age of mothers was 33.4 years. This average was higher, at 34.1 years, for Spanish mothers, and 30.7 years for mothers of foreign nationality.
The average age for first-time mothers – those who had their first child in 2015 – was 32.4.
In 10 years the number of births outside marriage has almost doubled
In 2015, births outside marriage rose to 7,838, an increase of 1.4% with respect to 2014. These births represent 41.6% of the total. Bizkaia was the only province with a percentage higher than the Basque Country average, with 43.4%, whereas Álava and Gipuzkoa had lower relative values (40.7% and 39.4%, respectively). If we compare the current percentage with that registered in 2005 (23%), we see that over the last 10 years the proportion of births outside marriage has almost doubled.
Regarding the order of birth, the 9,917 first-born children in 2015 made up 52.6% of the total; second-borns, 37.5%; and third-borns and subsequent children, 9.9% of the total.
The sex ratio among live births in 2015 was 107 boys to every 100 girls. The average weights were 3,312 grams for boys and 3,192 grams for girls.
The number of births rose to 18,442, of which 17,959 were single, 472 twins and 11 triplets. Out of all births, 1,097 were premature (5.9%).
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