Low Fertility Rates

With just under 337,000 babies born in 2021, Spain faced the lowest number of birth rate since 1941, according to Spain’s National Statistics Agency (INE). The average age for giving birth in Spain also reached historic highs at 32.6 years old. For mothers born in Spain, the average age hit 33 for the first time, revealed in the study of INE. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of annual births in Spain dropped by 29%. With just 1.19 children born for every woman, Spain’s historically low birth rate suggests the country’s population will fall dramatically without sustained immigration.

The number of births was far exceeded by the number of deaths, with 450,687 people passing away in 2021. That is the second-highest statistic on record, but still 8.7% lower than in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and the population was not protected by vaccination. The COVID-19 pandemic may have a strong influence on Spain’s low birth rate. The agency said births were lower in the first part of 2021, reflecting a decrease in conception during the country’s harsh lockdown in the 2020 spring.

Meanwhile, the number of couples marrying in 2021 was still substantially lower than in 2019. For men, the average age for married was 39.5; for women, 36.7. A 2019 UN report predicted that Spain will have the third-highest old-age dependency ratio in the world by 2050, after Japan and South Korea. Experts suggest that economic conditions are one of the main obstacles to having children in Spain.