First rise in number of births in Spain for six years

2014 saw the first rise in the number of births in Spain for six years, according to figures published by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Monday.

The INE confirmed that 2014 saw 426,303 births, 588 more than the previous year, meaning a rise of 0.1 percent, ending a downward trend in the Spanish birth rate which had started in 2008 with the beginning of the economic crisis.

In contrast 395,045 people died in Spain last year, meaning a net population growth of 31,678, before issues of immigration and migration are taken into account, while the average life expectancy for Spaniards now stands at 83 years, which is the highest it has ever been.

The INE report adds that there are 9.1 births per 1000 head of population, although there is now a smaller number of women considered to be of fertile age (15-49), with 10.98 million in 2014 compared to 11.20 in 2013 with the slight rise in the birthrate due to the fact these women are now having 1.32 children as opposed to 1.27 in 2013.

17.8 percent of the babies born in 2014 were to foreign mothers, a decrease from the 18.6 percent in 2013, due probably to the number of immigrants who have returned to their homelands as a result of the crisis. However, the average age a foreign woman gives birth to her first child in Spain (29.3 years) is 3 years younger than that of Spanish women (32.3 years).

The mortality rate also grew 1.2 percent, due to an aging population with the average age for women climbing to 85.7 years, five and a half years more than for men, whose average life expectancy is 80.2 years of age. Endit