Spaniens komplexe demografische Realität

ss: In 2023 there were 100,000 fewer births and 43,000 more deaths in Spain than in 2013. There have been more deaths than births every year since 2015.

Not only is the annual number of babies born continuing to decline, but the number of voluntary abortions increased dramatically last year. Now one pregnant woman in four opts for an abortion. one abortion for every four pregnancies, far higher than Germany’s and Italy’s one abortion for every seven pregnancies, and Poland’s one per thousand.

Last year’s rise of almost 13,000 abortions in Spain is partly attributable to a change in the law enabling 16- and 17-year olds to have an abortion without parental consent.

Spain’s baby boom (from the mid-1950s to the late-1970s) came later than in most other European countries and those babies are now either retired or in many cases about to be: over the next 20 years 14 million people are forecast to retire.

The ‘baby bust’ that followed the baby boom means there might not be enough workers to replace them.

The Socialist-led minority government seems to have opted for immigration and is hoping that a proposal to legalise the status of around 500,000 undocumented migrants will pass smoothly through parliament. The current foreign-born population stands at 9 million (18% of the population).