Spain registered a total of 320,656 births in 2023, 2.6% less than the previous year (8,595 less) and 24.7% less than a decade ago, when there were 425,715. The figures for 2023 were published on Wednesday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE). And for the first time in the historical series, people over 65 make up more than 20% of the total population.
The average number of children per woman was 1.12 in 2023, 0.04% less than in 2022. Both Spanish mothers and foreign mothers had fewer babies. The decreases are respectively 0.03% (to 1.09) and 0.07% (to 1.28) in both groups.
Of the 320,656 births in Spain in 2023, 78,330 were births to mothers of foreign nationality. This represents 24.4% of the total (compared to 23% in 2022). In 100,438 births, the mothers were not born in Spain. This represents 31.3% of the total (compared to 29.5% in 2022).
Average age
The average age at which children are born was 32.6 years in 2023. The INE notes that the higher age at which women become mothers is associated with a decrease in the number of births.
Broken down by nationality, the average age of having children has not changed. This is 33.1 years for Spanish mothers and 30.5 years for foreign mothers.
Mothers aged 40 years or older
Another indicator that reflects the delay in having children is the number of births to mothers aged 40 years or older. This number has increased by 19.1% in the last ten years. While in 2013 6.8% of babies born had a mother aged 40 and older, in 2023 this percentage has risen to 10.8%.
Unmarried mothers
The rate of births to unmarried mothers rose to 49.9% in 2023, compared to 50.1% in 2022. In previous years, the rate of births to unmarried mothers was: 49.2% in 2021, 47.6% in 2020, 48.3% in 2019, 47.2% in 2018, 46.7% in 2017, 45.8% in 2016 and 44.4% in 2015.
Number of deaths in 2023
On the other hand, INE data show that in 2023, 436,124 people died in Spain, 6.1% less than in the previous year.
The infant mortality rate rose by three-hundredths of a percentage point to 2.63 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Increased life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth increased by almost seven-tenths in 2023 to 83.77 years. By gender, life expectancy rose by 0.75 years for men to 81.11 years and for women by 0.60 years to 86.34 years.
Spain is also aging
For the first time in the INE historical series, people aged 65 and over represent more than 20% of the total population. To be precise, it was 20.2%. In 2013 it was 17.7%; in 2003 17.0%; in 1993 14.4%; and in 1983 11.5%.
The average age of the Spanish population rose to 44.2 years in 2023. In 2013 it was 41.8 years, in 2003 40.1 years, in 1993 37.4 years, and 1983 34.4 years.
In addition, Spain had a natural decrease of 113,590 people in 2023. This difference between births and deaths is the third most negative figure since data became available (1941). Only in 2020 and 2022 was the difference even greater.
Changing wedding behaviour in Spain
Also, INE statistics show that 172,430 marriages were registered in Spain in 2023. That is 3.7% less than in 2022.
82.3% of marriages celebrated in Spain in 2023 were civil marriages. In 17.8% of the cases, it was a church wedding. The number of civil marriages decreased by 1.8% compared to 2022 and the number of religious marriages by 11.9%. Same-sex couples accounted for 3.9% of all registered marriages in 2023 (6,772 marriages). Of these, 53.3% were women and 46.7% were men.