SPANISH NEWS: Lowest birthrate since 1941

THE birthrate in Spain has fallen to its lowest level in nearly eight decades.

The latest Spanish National Institute of Statistics figures on population show there were 170,074 babies born in the country during the first six months of this year, the lowest figure since 1941 and 6.2 per cent less than in the same period of 2018.

There were 215,478 deaths between the beginning of January and the end of June. In other words, 45,404 more people died in Spain than were born.

Greater numbers of deaths than births has been the situation for several years, 2014 being the exception.

The only part of the country where the birthrate went up in the first half of 2019 was La Rioja.

The greatest drops in the number of babies coming into the world were in Melilla (-27.6 per cent) and Ceuta (-22.6 per cent).

Just over one in five births in the first six months of the year were to foreign mothers.

The figures also revealed that just 15.7 per cent of Spain population is aged under 16, while 19.3 per cent are over 65.