Birth Statistics. 2024. Provisional data

In 2024, 27,606 boys and 26,187 girls were born in Catalonia, a total of 53,793 live births, according to provisional data from the Birth Statistics. This figure represents a decrease of 0.8% compared to the final birth data for 2023.

The high increase in the population and the decrease in births place fertility indicators at historic lows. The crude birth rate in 2024 stood at 6.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants, a figure lower than that of 2023 (6.8‰), following the downward trend that began after the last peak was reached in 2008 (12.1 births per 1,000 inhabitants).

For the first time, these Statistic provide data showing that there are 456 babies born in 2024 who have, in addition to the birth mother, another woman recorded as the other parent. This figure represents 0.9% of the total number of births. In contrast, 51,383 babies have a man as the other parent and in 1,954 cases the sex of the other parent was not reported.

By territorial areas, the number of births in 2024 grew in the Central Counties Area (3.1%), the Ponent Area (2.6%) and Les Terres de l'Ebre Area (2.1%). Conversely, El Penedès Area (3.9%) recorded the greatest decrease, followed by El Camp de Tarragona Area (2.5%), the Girona Counties Area (1.6%), the Metropolitan Area (0.8%) and L’Alt Pirineu i Aran Area (0.7%).

As for the counties, in 2024 the number of births decreased in 25 counties and Aran. The largest decreases were recorded in L’Alta Ribagorça (22.2%) and El Ripollès (20.6%). On the other hand, L'Urgell (23.9%) and El Berguedà (16.5%) were the counties that recorded the largest increases.

By size of the municipalities, the number of births increased by 5.1% in municipalities with less than 500 inhabitants and also increased in municipalities with between 10,001 and 50,000 inhabitants, by 1.1%. On the contrary, in the rest of the municipalities it decreased. On the other hand, the city of Barcelona maintained the number of births recorded in 2023, with an increase of 0.1%, breaking the downward trend of recent years.

The crude birth rate in 2024 stood at 6.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants, lower than in 2023 (6.8‰). By areas of the Territorial Plan, the highest crude birth rate was 7.3 births per 1,000 inhabitants in the Ponent Area, while the lowest, below the average for Catalonia (6.7‰), was recorded in El Penedès Area (6.4‰) and L’Alt Pirineu i Aran Area (5.8‰). By counties, the maximum value was recorded in L’Urgell (8.6‰) and the lowest in L’Alta Ribagorça (3.5‰).

As for the short-term fertility rate, it stood at 1.08 children per woman (1.10 in 2023, and below the 2008 maximum of 1.53 children per woman). By areas, the Ponent Area and Les Terres de l'Ebre Area (1.34 and 1.27 respectively) are the areas of the Territorial Plan with the highest fertility rate, whereas L’Alt Pirineu i Aran Area (1.01) has the lowest fertility rate, followed by the Metropolitan Area, with 1.03 children per woman.

Regarding the nationality of mothers, in 2024, 34,723 babies were born to Spanish mothers (representing a decrease of 1.9% compared to 2023), and 19,070 were born to foreign mothers (an annual increase of 1.2%). In relative terms, babies born to foreign mothers accounted for 35.5% of live births (34.8% in 2023).

The fertility rate of foreign women residing in Catalonia was higher than that of Spanish national women residing in Catalonia, and the number of children per woman was 1.29 and 1.04, respectively. The average age at motherhood for Spanish national women was 33.2 years and that of foreign women was 30,8 years; In other words, foreign women who had children in 2024 are, on average, 2.4 years younger than Spanish national women.

Among babies born to foreign mothers, by country of nationality of the mother, the highest frequency corresponded to children born to Moroccan mothers (4,404 live births), which accounted for 8.2% of the total number of births in Catalonia and 23.1% of births to foreign mothers. Next in descending order, there were the children born to Colombian (1,446), Pakistani (1,359), Honduran (890) and Peruvian (781) mothers.

By territorial area, 41.8% of those born alive in the Ponent Area and 40.5% of those born in the Girona Counties Area were children born to foreign mothers, with percentages well above the Catalan average (35.5%). By county, the highest percentages of babies born to foreign mothers were observed in La Segarra (56.7%), followed by El Pla d'Urgell and L’Alt Empordà (48.1% and 44.7% respectively).