Press Release 27/03/2025
HOSPITAL MORBIDITY STATISTICS. 2023
Hospital admissions in the Basque Country increased by 2.1% in 2023
84% of hospital admissions in the Basque Country were treated in public hospitals, while in Spain the average figure stood at 73%
Hospitals in the Basque Country recorded a total of 248,650 admissions in 2023, up 2.1% on the previous year, according to Eustat data. As in 2022, these admissions represented 5.1% of the total for Spain as a whole. 83.6% of cases were treated in public hospitals, almost eleven percentage points more than at national level (73%) and ahead of autonomous regions such as Catalonia (51.8%), Madrid (66.3%), Andalusia (74.6%), Galicia (80%) and Valencia (80.6%).
The Basque Country was among the autonomous regions with the highest hospitalisation rates
The Basque Country registered a rate of 11,297 hospitalisations per 100,000 inhabitants, placing it above the national average (10,065) and third among the autonomous regions with the highest hospitalisation rates, after Asturias (11,583) and Catalonia (11,521).
53% of people admitted to Basque hospitals were aged 65 and over, while in Spain this figure stood at 48%
50.9% of people admitted to hospital were men and 49.1% were women, while at national level the proportion of women was higher (51.4%). If pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal cases were not taken into account, the percentage of women would drop to 45.9% in the Basque Country (47.5% in Spain).
People aged 65 and over accounted for 52.9% of hospitalisations in the Basque Country in 2023, five percentage points up on the figure for Spain (47.9%). Within this group, the 65-84 age range saw the highest number of admissions (37.6% and 34.2% in Spain), followed by 45-64 year olds (24.7%) and those aged 85 and over (15.3%).
Digestive, circulatory and respiratory diseases were the most common causes of hospitalisation in both the Basque Country and Spain
Diseases of the digestive system (12.8%) and circulatory system (12.4%), together with those of the respiratory system (12.3%), were the main causes of hospitalisation in 2023, accounting for 37.5% of all admissions to hospitals in the Basque Country (36.5% in Spain). Among them, of particular note was the rise in diseases of the respiratory system for the second consecutive year (+18% compared to 2022), reaching figures close to those for digestive and circulatory diseases.
Other significant causes (with more than 20,000 admissions per year) were injuries and poisoning (9.3%), tumours (9.1%) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system (8.3%).
Among women, there were more hospital admissions for respiratory diseases than for digestive and circulatory diseases
Pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal cases, although declining (11.9% compared to 14.5% in Spain), continued to be the leading cause of hospitalisation among women, closely followed by respiratory diseases (11.8%), which this year caused more hospital admissions than digestive (11.2%) and circulatory diseases (10.6%).
Among men, digestive (14.4%) and circulatory diseases (14.1%) were the main causes, as in Spain (both with 14.3%), followed by respiratory diseases (12.8%).
Within the most common groups of illnesses, the specific causes behind most hospital admissions related to the digestive system were cholelithiasis (gallstones), inguinal hernias (more common among men) and acute appendicitis (especially at younger ages: 5-24 years old). Among circulatory diseases, of particular note were cerebrovascular diseases (strokes) and heart diseases (high blood pressure, dysrhythmias, heart failure and heart attacks).
With regard to respiratory diseases, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis accounted for the majority of hospitalisations (38.6%). As for injuries and poisoning, broken femurs (more prevalent among older women), legs and forearms (more common among people aged 45-64) and traumatic brain injuries predominated.
Among tumours, bladder tumours, followed by colorectal, bronchial and lung tumours were those that caused the highest number of hospitalisations, in addition to prostate tumours among men, and breast and uterine fibroid tumours among women.
The number of hospital stays fell by 2.7%, resulting in an average stay of 8 days
The total number of days that people spent in hospital in the Basque Country came to 1,990,909, a drop of 2.7% compared to 2022. The average length of stay was 8 days (8.1 in Spain) and was higher among men (8.4 days) than women (7.6 days); in both cases it stood below the Spanish average (8.8 and 7.5 days, respectively).
Hospitalisations, days of stay and average stay in hospitals in the Basque Country by groups of most frequent diseases. 2023
| | Hospitalisations | Days of stay | Average stay |
| | Number | % | Number | % | Total | Men | Women |
| Total | 248.650 | 100 | 1.990.909 | 100 | 8,0 | 8,4 | 7,6 |
| Digestive system | 31.886 | 12,8 | 156.006 | 7,8 | 4,9 | 4,8 | 5,1 |
| Circulatory system | 30.768 | 12,4 | 234.314 | 11,8 | 7,6 | 7,5 | 7,7 |
| Respiratory system | 30.504 | 12,3 | 178.954 | 9,0 | 5,9 | 5,8 | 6,0 |
| Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes | 23.248 | 9,3 | 147.219 | 7,4 | 6,3 | 6,2 | 6,4 |
| Tumors | 22.647 | 9,1 | 151.052 | 7,6 | 6,7 | 7,1 | 6,1 |
| Musculoskeletal system | 20.523 | 8,3 | 93.223 | 4,7 | 4,5 | 4,4 | 4,7 |
| Genitourinary System | 18.895 | 7,6 | 77.727 | 3,9 | 4,1 | 4,1 | 4,1 |
| Pregnancy, birth and puerperium | 14.518 | 5,8 | 46.252 | 2,3 | 3,2 | - | 3,2 |
| Abnormal clinical symptoms and findings | 11.255 | 4,5 | 55.214 | 2,8 | 4,9 | 4,9 | 4,9 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders | 7.558 | 3,0 | 570.627 | 28,7 | 75,5 | 80,8 | 69,9 |
| Certain infectious and parasitic diseases | 6.431 | 2,6 | 58.340 | 2,9 | 9,1 | 9,3 | 8,8 |
| Illnesses of the nervous system | 6.196 | 2,5 | 49.027 | 2,5 | 7,9 | 8,4 | 7,4 |
The percentage has been calculated on the total number of hospitalizations and stays
ICD -10 : International Classification of Diseases, 10th version
Date March 27, 2025
Source: Eustat. Hospital discharge statistic
The mental health and behavioural disorders group stood out from the other groups of illnesses due to the prolonged length of hospital stays for some pathologies (schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders). This group alone accounted for 28.7% of all hospital stays and the average length of stay stood at 75.5 days (80.8 for men and 69.9 for women).
As for the other groups of illnesses, those with the longest stays were illnesses related to the circulatory system (11.8%), with an average length of stay of 7.6 days, and those related to the respiratory system (9%) and digestive system (7.8%), with average stays of 5.9 and 4.9 days, respectively.
Methodological note
This statistical operation has been carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics-INE.
This second dissemination covers acute care hospitals, medium and long-stay hospitals and psychiatric hospitals.
For the purpose of comparison with Spanish and international statistics, the hospital admissions mode only takes into account admissions with a stay equal to or greater than 1 day, that is, admissions with 0 days are not counted. The length of stay is calculated as the number of days between the date of admission and the date of discharge, without taking into account the time of admission or discharge.
The hospitalisation rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the Basque Country was calculated using Eustat data on the resident population as at 01/07/2023.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea/Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62