Press Release 15/09/2020

BIRTH STATISTICS. I/2020

Births remained stable in the first quarter of 2020 in the Basque Country as a whole

By province, the trend was uneven: births increased by 2.2% in Bizkaia, remained stable in Gipuzkoa and decreased by 6.3% in Álava

In the first quarter of 2020 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 3,723, which was a drop of 0.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. The number of births increased by 2.2% in Bizkaia, whereas births in Álava were down 6.3% and in Gipuzkoa the number of births remained stable. Specifically, in Bizkaia 1,862 girls and boys were born, 1,265 were born in Gipuzkoa and 596 in Álava.

According to the age of the mother, the group of mothers aged 35-39 moved into first position, producing 34.6% of births. Next, was the group aged 30-34, producing 34.3% of births, and then the group aged 25-29, although the latter only produced 14.2% of births.

With regards to the same quarter of 2019, the number of women who became mothers aged 40 or over decreased, going from 421 in 2019 to 404 in 2020. The births from these women made up 10.9% of the total (11.3% in 2019), exceeding the 6.1% of births by mothers younger than 25.

Births outside marriage accounted for 44.6% of the total, a figure similar to that for the first quarter of 2019 (44.8%). Bizkaia and Álava posted higher figures than the Basque Country as a whole, a little over 46%, whereas in Gipuzkoa this percentage was lower, 41.2%. The age of maternity for single mothers was lower than that for women who had children as a whole, with a notable 9.1% of single mothers being under 25.

According to the order of birth, in the first quarter of 2020 49.1% of births, 1,827 children, were first-born; 1,410 (37.9%) arrived in families that already had another son or daughter, and the percentage of third or subsequent children stood at 13.1%, 0.5 points above the first quarter of 2019..

The percentage of mothers with foreign nationality increased to 28.4%

In 28.4% of births in the Basque Country during the first three months of 2020, the mother was a foreign national, one percentage point higher than in the first quarter of 2019. This figure was higher in Álava where it stood at 35.7%, against 26.7% in Bizkaia and 27.6% in Gipuzkoa.

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