Last year, a total of 11,854 births were registered in Canary Islands, 3% less than the previous year, while the number of deaths amounted to 17,846, which is equivalent to a negative vegetative balance of almost 6,000 people.
In the country as a whole, there were a total of 322,075 births, which represented a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year, while the number of deaths rose to 435,331 people, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The number of births thus continues with the downward trend of the last decade, only interrupted in 2014. Since 2013, the number of births has decreased by 24.1%.
In recent years, it has been observed that the decrease in the number of births has been accompanied by a delay in the age of motherhood. An indicator that reflects the delay in motherhood is the number of births from mothers aged 40 or over, which has grown by 19.3% in the last 10 years.
In relative terms, while in 2013 6.8% of births were from mothers aged 40 or over, in 2023 that percentage rose to 10.7%.
Only Madrid, Murcia, Balearic Islands and the autonomous cities have more births than deaths
The number of births only increased in 2023 in the Community of Madrid (2.7%) and Extremadura (0.6%). The largest decreases were recorded in the autonomous cities of Melilla (-19.4%) and Ceuta (-11.8%), and in Castilla-La Mancha (-10.5%).
As for deaths, they decreased in all regions compared to 2022. The largest decreases occurred in the autonomous city of Ceuta (-10.9%), Aragon (-10.6%) and the Basque Country (-8.4%).
The vegetative growth (births minus deaths) was negative in 2023 in all communities, except in the Community of Madrid (4,770), the Region of Murcia (729) and the Balearic Islands (67), and in the autonomous cities of Melilla (250) and Ceuta (94).
The most negative vegetative balances were recorded in Galicia (-18,701), Castilla y León (-16,270) and Andalusia (-13,544).
