During 2024, there were 318,005 births in Spain, representing a decline of 0.8% compared to the previous year (2,651 fewer births).
The number of births therefore continues the downward trend of the last decade. Since 2014, the number of births has reduced by 25.6%.
Of the 318,005 births that took place in Spain, 81,339 were to a foreign mother, accounting for 25.6% of the total (compared with 24.4% in 2023).
If we look at the country of birth, there were 105,814 births to mothers born abroad, which accounted for 33.3% of the total (compared with 31.3% in 2023).
The short-term fertility indicator (or average number of children per woman) stood at 1.10 in 2024, two hundredths of a percentage point lower than in 2023.
By nationality, the average number of children per woman decreased by two hundredths among Spanish mothers (to 1.07) and by one hundredth among foreign mothers (to 1.27).
The average maternity age was 32.6 years in 2024. It has remained unchanged since 2021.
By nationality, the average age at childbearing increased by seven hundredths for Spanish mothers (to 33.2 years) and decreased by six hundredths for foreign mothers (to 30.5 years).
Notably, the number of births to mothers aged 40 or over continues to rise, having grown by 7.3% over the last 10 years. In relative terms, while in 2014 7.2% of births were to mothers aged 40 or older, in 2024 that percentage increased to 10.4%.
In 2024, 436,118 persons died in Spain, six fewer than the previous year.
By age, there was a notable decline in deaths among people aged 85 to 89 (6.0% compared to 2023), which occurred among both men (5.3%) and women (6.7%).
The infant mortality rate increased by four tenths and stood at 3.04 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Life expectancy at birth increased by two tenths in 2024 to 84.01 years.
By sex, male life expectancy rose 0.3 years, to 81.38, and women's increased by 0.2 years, to 86.53.
According to current mortality conditions, a person reaching 65 years of age in 2024 could expect to live an average of 19.87 years more for men and 23.64 years more for women.
Note: Life expectancy is the average age that persons of a generation could live, subject, at every age, to the mortality rate observed in the period analysed.
The natural change of the resident population in Spain (that is, the difference between births to mothers residing in Spain and deaths of residents in the country), was negative at -116,056 people in 2024. It is negative for the eighth consecutive year.
In 2024, a total of 175,364 marriages were registered, 1.7% more than in 2023. The gross marriage rate increased three hundredths to 3.6 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants.
4.2% of the total marriages registered in 2024 were of same-sex couples (7,336 marriages). Of them, 51.7% were women, and 48.3% were men.
Meanwhile, the average age at marriage increased by three tenths of a year in 2024 for both men and women. It stood at 39.9 years for men and 37.2 years for women.
Vital Statistics quantify the number of births, deaths and marriages taking place within Spanish territory. Its main sources of information are the birth, death and marriage bulletins that are sent by the heads of the Civil Registries to the provincial delegations of the INE, as well as the recording files of the registry entries received by the Ministry of Justice relating to deaths, births and marriages.
This operation is prepared in collaboration with the statistical services of the Autonomous Communities, pursuant to the agreement signed with them for this purpose.
For more information, you can access the methodology and the standardised methodological report of births, deaths and marriages.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.
Official INE account on
@es_ine