Births rise for the first time in Spain, but continue to decline in Catalonia

BarcelonaBirths in Spain have increased for the first time in a decade. This is a positive figure, but surrounded by nuances and in an unfavourable context. In fact, according to the data published this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2024 there were 322,034 births in the State, an increase of 0.4% compared to 2023. Where they have increased the most is in Cantabria (+13.3%) and in the Balearic Islands (+). However, in 2024 there were also 439,146 deaths, 0.7% more than in the previous year. The natural balance, therefore, is negative: there were 114,937 more deaths than births.

This is the first data on natural population growth in the last ten years in Spain. And what is happening in Catalonia? Well, that increase in births has not occurred. Births continue to decline and last year there were 0.6% fewer than the previous year. However, it is not the region with the greatest decline in births, as Galicia experienced a fall of 4.4% and Euskadi of 3.7%.

In fact, Catalonia has the third worst balance between births and deaths, with 13,668 more deaths than newborns. Only Galicia (-19,333) and Castilla y León (-16,385) are ahead. The only community with a positive balance last year was Madrid, with a growth of 2,707 people. It should be noted that the last year in which the natural balance in the whole State was positive was in 2013.

More mothers over 40 years old

At the same time, in recent years, the fall in the number of births has been accompanied by a delay in the age of motherhood. An indicator that reflects this, according to the INE, is the number of births to mothers aged 40 or over, which has grown by 8.5% in the last 10 years. In relative terms, while in 2014 7.2% of births were to mothers aged 40 or over, in 2024 this percentage rose to 10.4%.

In 2014 the number of mothers under 25 years of age was 427,595, compared to 322,034 in the previous year. However, 80% of mothers were between 25 and 39 years old and their average age was 32.59 years. At the same time, there are fewer and fewer mothers under 30 years of age: if in 2000 there were 164,000, now they are less than 87,000, practically half. As for the time of year, in 2024 there was an increase in births in the first months of the year, falling in summer and also in November and December.

Differences by age and sex

As for deaths by age and sex, the largest decrease in relative terms was observed in men between 5 and 29 years of age, with a decrease of 6.1% compared to 2023, and in women between 85 and 89 years of age, with a decrease of 6%. On the other hand, the death rate of children between 0 and 4 years of age increased by 11.2% and that of men between 80 and 84 years of age increased by 6.7%. The main increases in deaths compared to 2023 were in Cantabria (6.1%), Castilla y León and Extremadura (5% in both territories).