Moroccan mothers lead foreign births in Spain’s Basque Country

Wednesday 10 June 2026 - 08:26

By: Dakir Madiha

Moroccan mothers lead foreign births in Spain’s Basque Country

A rising share of births in Spain’s Basque Country in 2025 involved foreign-born mothers, with Moroccan nationals forming the largest group among them. The region registered 13,344 births over the year, marking a 3.1 percent increase compared with the previous year and the first annual rise since 2014.

Moroccan women accounted for 692 births out of 3,569 delivered by foreign mothers, placing Morocco ahead of other nationalities including Colombia, Algeria, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Romania, Peru, and Venezuela. The data points to a sustained demographic presence of Moroccan families in northern Spain, where migration flows have steadily shaped local population structures over the past decade.

At the national level, Moroccan nationals remain the largest foreign community in Spain. Close to 969,000 residents hold Moroccan nationality, while more than 1.16 million people born in Morocco live in the country as of early 2025. The population increased by more than 48,000 individuals during 2024, reinforcing its demographic weight across multiple autonomous regions.

Foreign mothers represented 26.7 percent of all births in the Basque Country, while women born outside Spain accounted for 35.6 percent of all mothers. This pattern reflects broader demographic trends in which fertility rates among foreign-born women remain higher than those of Spanish nationals, contributing significantly to regional birth totals.

Age differences also remain pronounced. More than 42 percent of foreign mothers gave birth before the age of 30, compared with 13.3 percent among Spanish mothers. The average age of first-time foreign mothers stood at 28.7 years, nearly five years younger than Spanish first-time mothers, with the overall average maternal age reaching 33.4 years.

The data also shows shifting family patterns. Just over half of births occurred outside marriage, while first children accounted for a slim majority of newborns. Hospitals handled the vast majority of deliveries, and the region recorded multiple twin and triplet births, alongside a notable share of premature deliveries.