Statistics on Main Characteristics of the Population and Housing. Fertility. 2021

Fertility levels declined between 2011 and 2021 for women under 55 years of age, especially among younger women. In the last 10 years, fertility fell most in the 30-34 age group: in 2021, 56.7% of women in this group had not become mothers while in 2011 this figure was 49.7%.

For the first time, Idescat has published results on male fertility: 74.3% of men aged 30 to 34 have had no children while this proportion stands at 47.1% for men aged 35 to 39.

In terms of the number of children women have had, 25.7% of women aged 45-49 have had only one child, while the percentage of women over 65 who have had only one child is 15.9%. 54.7% of women aged 45-49 have had at least two children, while the figure for women over 65 is over 70%. Meanwhile, only 12.6% of women aged 45-49 have had a third child, while more than 30% of women over 70 have had three or more children.

Analysis of the fertility of women in terms of the relationship with economic activity shows that women in full-time employment have the least number of children at all ages, while the highest fertility is among women engaged in housework.

In the 30-34 age group, women in full-time employment have had on average 0.49 children, women in part-time employment 0.88 children, unemployed women 0.93 children and women engaged in housework 1.83 children.

With respect to the level of education, the higher the level of education, the later the age at childbearing. As regards the percentage of women who were mothers between the ages of 30 and 34, 65.9% of women with primary education or less have had at least one child, while among women with higher education the percentage is 29.7%.

In terms of the number of children per woman aged 30-34, women with primary education or less have had an average of 1.52 children; women with the first stage of secondary education 1.24 children; women with the second stage of secondary education 0.81 children, and women with higher education 0.40 children.

With regard to nationality, foreign women resident in Catalonia have their first child before Spanish women. 43.5% of foreign women aged 25-29 have already had at least one child while in the case of Spanish women the percentage is 10.7%. 82.4% of foreign women aged 45-49 have had a child while in the case of Spanish women the percentage is 80.0%.

The fertility rate of women of foreign nationality resident in Catalonia is higher than it is for Spanish women. From 30 to 34 years of age, foreign women have had an average of 0.91 children while Spanish women have had 0.60 children. Likewise, from 45 to 49 years of age, foreign women had an average of 2 children and Spanish women have had 1.47 children.

Across the territory there are considerable differences in terms of the proportion of women who have had children. Girona is the province with the highest percentage of women aged 16 to 39 who have had children (37.4%), while Barcelona has the lowest proportion (28.0%). By municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, Santa Coloma de Gramenet has the highest percentage (39.5% of women aged 16-39 have had children), while Sant Cugat del Vallès has the lowest percentage (21.1%).