Press Release 15/11/2021

BIRTH STATISTICS. II/2021

In the second quarter of 2021 births in the Basque Country fell by 2.9%, moderating the downward trend

Babies born to unmarried mothers accounted for 47.9%

In the second quarter of 2021 the number of births in the Basque Country stood at 3,523, 2.9% down on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. This reduction in births is significantly lower than that occurring in the first quarter of this year, when it reached 12.5%. Births fell in all three provinces, although the drop was more pronounced in Álava (-5.6%) than in Gipuzkoa (-2.7%) and in Bizkaia (-2%). In absolute figures, 1,737 girls and boys were born in Bizkaia, 1,209 in Gipuzkoa, and 577 in Álava.

During April, May and June 2021 births outside marriage accounted for 47.9% of the total, a greater percentage than the 46.9% recorded in the same quarter of 2020. Bizkaia, with 50%, was the only province with values higher than the Basque Country average; in Álava and in Gipuzkoa the percentages were lower, 47.5% and 44.9%, respectively.

According to the order of birth, in the second quarter of 2021 almost half, 1,709, were first children; 1,349 girls and boys (38.3%) arrived in families that already had another son or daughter, and the percentage of third or subsequent children stood at 13.2%.

The percentage of mothers over 40 exceeded 10%

Regarding the distribution of births according to age, the group of mothers between the ages of 30-39 continued to be in the majority, producing 70.6% of births. With percentages significantly lower than the previous group, was the 25-29 age group (12.3%) and the under-25s (6.2%), while the group of mothers over 40 reached 10.9%.

The age of maternity for single mothers (45.50% of mothers) was lower than that for mothers as a whole, with 9.9% of single mothers being under the age of 25 and 14.9% between the ages of 25 and 29. The percentage of single mothers over 40 was 10.7%

There were fewer mothers with foreign nationality

In 26% of births in the Basque Country during the spring months of 2021, the mother was a foreign national. In the same period of 2020 this percentage was 27.6%. By province, in Álava this figure reached 36.4%, in Gipuzkoa 24.2% and in Bizkaia 23.8%.

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