The Basque Country has regained the strength of youth: there have not been so many teenagers in 25 years

There have not been so many teenagers in the Basque Country since theend of the last century. This is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the latest data from Eustat. According to the Statistical Institute, at the moment there are 220,000 young people between the ages of 10 and 19 in the Basque Country, the highest number since 1999.

In the absence of an objective definition of adolescence, the World Health Organization places 10-19 at that age. Hence the number of 220,000 adolescents. At the social level, however, it is often placed a little later, in the 13-19 age group (in line with the Anglo-Saxon perspective of teenagers). Here, too, the CSC has reached its peak in terms of the number of adolescents: 13 to 19 years, with 158,520 citizens, the highest number since 2000.

In the case of Navarra , the trend is even more pronounced. In the Foral community there are 77,000 people between the ages of 10 and 19 , the largest number since the beginning of the 1990s. In other words, in Hego Euskal Herria there are about 300,000 young people betweenthe ages of 10 and 19.

The growth of births at the beginning of the century

These data may be surprising because in the Basque Country there is constant talk of the birth crisis and very little talk of the increase in births until not so long ago. It occurred between 2000-2015 and reached its peak in 2011. That year the number of births was the highest since 1984 and, in general, in those years  was turned around the birth crisis of the 1990s. 

This increase largely explains the large number of teenagers today, as explained by\u00A0 Itziar Aguado, Doctor of Economics and Professor of Human Geography at the University of the Basque Country : "The growth of births was sustained in those years intheBasque Country.  This cohort is now reaching adolescence, which directly explains the expansion of the pyramid between the ages of 10 and 19. "

Impact of migration

In addition, it is a second factor "that affects immigration as a complement". "The migratory flows that arrived in the Basque Country since the early 2000s brought in people of working age but also families with children. Some arrived as children and others were born here. This flow has had a direct impact on the initial growth and on the fertility of mothers, since the average age of mothers of foreign nationality is lower and the fertility rate is slightly higher. "

There has been a significant change due to these two factors  . In the CSC today there are 50,000 more teenagers (27% more) than in 2005-2010. In Navarre berriz there are almost 24,000 more teenagers (almost 40% more) than two decades ago.

Meeting needs

So, although there are few children , especially in the 0-5 age group,there are many   teenagers - and the phenomenon has consequences, according to the UPV professor.

"The increase in the number of young people  has consequences in different areas, such as that of the ageing population, but the increase in the number of adolescents generates a more modest public debate. The increase in the number of adolescents increases the demand in some areas: education, leisure activities... But beyond the management of demand, themost important thing is to respond tothe needs of this group. " s.

On the other hand, this trend will also have demographic effectsand may lead to an increase in births in the medium term, explains Itziar Aguado.

  "This larger number of young people has a future effect that is often ignored. When you reach the reproductive age and if the fertility rates (1.17 children per woman in 2024 compared to 0.97 in the 1990s) are maintained,the absolute numberof births E will increase. E will change individual behaviors, but the population of childbearing age will increase. "