Press Release 11/05/2020

BIRTH STATISTICS. IV/2019

Births in the Basque Country fell by 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2019

Throughout 2019 the birth rate reached 15,400, down 4.3% on the previous year

In the fourth quarter of 2019 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 3,842, 3.8% down on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data.

28.4% of women who gave birth in the Basque Country in the autumn of 2019 were of foreign nationality, which is higher than the 26.6% recorded for the same period of 2018. Álava saw a larger percentage, standing at 38.9%, followed by Gipuzkoa with 29%, whereas in Bizkaia 24.7% of mothers were not Spanish nationals.

By province, Bizkaia saw an increase of 2.7% in the number of registered births, compared to the same quarter of 2018, standing at 2006 boys and girls. By contrast, Álava with 619 boys and girls, registered a fall of 6.1% and in Gipuzkoa, with 1,217 new births, there was a drop of 11.9%, always in comparison with the same quarter of 2018.

More than 80% of mothers were over 30 years of age

As regards the distribution of births according to the age of the mother, 35.2% of mothers were aged 35-39 and this remained the predominant age group this quarter (35.6%). It was closely followed by the 30-34 year-old age group, who produced 34.5% of births. The 25-29 age group accounted for 12.7%. The number of mothers above the age of 40 (11%) exceeded those under 25 (6.6%).

The age of maternity also varied according to nationality. In fact, the average age of foreign mothers was 30.9, compared to 34.5 for mothers with Spanish nationality.

The number of births from unmarried mothers was 45%

Births outside marriage in the fourth quarter of 2019 accounted for 45% of the total, down 0.4 percentage points on the number registered for the same period in 2018.

According to the order of birth, half, 1,941(50.5%), of births, were first-borns; 1,418 (36.9%) were born into families that already had a child, and the number of third and subsequent children stood at 483 (12.6%).

Of the total number of births in the 4th quarter of 2019, 1,334 took place in October, 1,289 in November and 1,219 in December.

Balance for 2019

For 2019 as a whole, the provisional birth rate reached 15,400, which is equivalent to a decrease of 690 (-4.3%) compared to data from 2018. This decrease occurred in all three provinces, however it was especially notable in Gipuzkoa, where it reached 6.2%, with 337 fewer births; in Álava, the decrease was 4.4% (119 fewer births) and in Bizkaia it was 2.9% (234 fewer births).

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62