The birth rate for the first eight months of this year is the lowest in the past seven years, according to monthly birth estimates by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE). Since monthly data are recorded, the downward trend continues.
Spain recorded 211,077 births in the first eight months of 2023. That is 6,862 fewer than in the same period of 2022. 219,635 babies were born in 2021, 229,904 in 2020, 236,965 in 2019, 245,696 in 2018 and 257,779 in 2017.
Births by region
The decline even doubled in autonomous regions in the north such as Asturias (-8.67%), Cantabria (-7.21%) and Navarre (-6.92%). In Comunidad Valenciana (-0.76%) and Madrid (-1.04%), the decline was somewhat smaller. Interestingly high are the decreases in the number of births in Melilla (-14.26%) and Ceuta (-10.66%).
Madrid, despite the overall decline, saw a slight rebound in August, with 1.8% more births than in the same month last year.
In the first eight months of this year, only seven provinces had more births than in the same period of 2022: Huesca (12.40%), Segovia (3.87%), Lugo (1.24%), Valencia (0.94%), Castellón (0.77%), Gipuzkoa (0.53%) and Zamora (0.22%).
By contrast, eight provinces saw a doubling or more of the drop in births until August: Palencia (-16.00%), Teruel (-14.42%), Ávila (-10.97%), Asturias (-8.66%), Tarragona (-7.42%), Cantabria (-7.20%), Navarre (-6.91%) and Ciudad Real (-6.86%).
Also read: Sharp increase of asthma and allergies among Spanish children
Number of deaths
In the first 39 weeks of 2023, i.e. until 1 October, a total of 324,446 people died in Spain, which is 25,747 fewer than in the same period in 2022 and the lowest figure in those weeks since 2019, according to the INE’s estimate of the number of weekly deaths.
Finally, for each year, the number of deaths in Spain in this period is estimated at 324,446 in 2023; a total of 350,193 in 2022; 335,029 in 2021; 367,939 in 2020; 312,724 in 2019; and 321,564 in 2018.
