In the ACV last year there were 12,937 births, 3.8 fewer than in 2023, and the lowest number since 1975

Births in the Basque Country fell by 3.8 per cent last year, to 12,937, the lowest figure since 1975, and fell among Basque mothers (-5.6 per cent), as foreigners had 1.4 per cent more children.

According to data from the Basque Institute of Statistics (Eustat), Álava is the territory where the number of births has fallen most, 5.5% less, to 2,094. Bizkaia recorded 6,421 births, a decrease of 3.7%, and Gipuzkoa 4,422, a decrease of 3.2%.

Last year births fell monthly, except in January and May, and the number of births per thousand inhabitants was 5.8.

The average age of mothers was 33.4 years, the same as in the previous year; however, the average age of Basque mothers is higher than that of foreigners, 34.3 years and 30.8 years, respectively; moreover, 41.5 per cent of foreign mothers had not reached the age of 30; in the case of nationals, however, only 13.7 per cent were under the age of 30.

On average, those who first had children were 32.4 years old (33.4 years old in the CSC and 28.7 years old in the CSC).

The percentage of foreign mothers is increasing.

Of the total number of women with children in the CSC last year, 26.6 per cent were foreigners and had 3,443 children, an increase from 2023, when foreign mothers accounted for 25.2 per cent.

Of the total number of foreign mothers, 43.8 per cent have American nationality, 32.5 per cent have African nationality and 12.6 per cent have European nationality. The main countries of origin were Morocco, with 620 mothers, Colombia (437), Nicaragua (208), Paraguay (201), Pakistan (196), Romania (192), Algeria (155), Honduras (137), Venezuela (117) and Peru (108).

6,541 children out of wedlock

In 2024, the number of births out of wedlock was 6,541, or 50.6% of all births, compared to 50.5% in 2023. In ten years, the number of births out of wedlock has increased by more than 10 points, from 39.9% in 2014 to 50.6% last year.

of the 12,937 babies born in 2024, half (50.5%) were first children, just over a third (36.2%) were second children, and only 13.3% were third or subsequent children.

93.5% of births in public hospitals

Of the births, 93.5 per cent were in public hospitals, 5.9 per cent in private hospitals and 0.6 per cent in the home, with 12,802 births, of which 12,620 were simple, 179 double and 3 triple, with 5.8 per cent of births being premature (740).