The latest Costa Blanca’s birth rate figures underline a shift that is already reshaping family life.
Data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show that motherhood is continuing to move later, with births before the age of 30 becoming increasingly rare and those over 35 now firmly established as the norm rather than the exception.
On the Costa Blanca, women aged 35 and over accounted for 37% of all births in 2025, a proportion that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago.
Costa Blanca birth rates rise slightly
Last year, 13,275 babies were born in the province, the highest figure of the past four years, though still below the 2017 peak of 15,039, the first year of the INE’s current historical series.
What stands out is not so much the modest recovery in numbers, but the age profile of mothers.
The largest group of births was among women aged 30 to 34, with 4,272 births (32.2%). They were followed by:
- Ages 35 to 39: 3,724 births
- Ages 25 to 29: 2,361 births
- Ages 20 to 24: 1,226 births
At the extremes, there were:
- 247 births to mothers under 19
- 100 births to women aged 45 to 49
- 12 births to women over 50
Those 12 births to women over 50 represent the highest figure ever recorded in the INE’s series for Alicante.
Population still shrinking naturally
Despite the slight increase in births, the province continues to lose population naturally.
In 2025, 17,765 deaths were recorded on the Costa Blanca, meaning deaths once again outnumbered births by a wide margin.
This negative natural balance reflects a broader demographic reality: people are living longer, but having children later and in smaller numbers.
A national picture
Across Spain, births rose in 2025 for the first time in more than a decade, with a provisional total of 321,164 births, up 1% on the previous year.
While small, the increase breaks a long downward trend.
However, it was still far from enough to offset deaths, which reached 446,982 nationwide, up 2.5% year on year.
As of 1 January 2026, Spain’s population stood at 49.5 million, of which 7.2 million were foreign nationals, around 14.6% of the total.
Later motherhood: The new normal
For Alicante in particular, the figures confirm a deep social shift.
Motherhood in the early twenties is becoming the exception, while having children well into the thirties, and increasingly beyond, is now standard.
Rising housing costs, job insecurity, longer education, and changing life priorities all play a role, but the result is clear: families are starting later, and often having fewer children.
Even with a slight rebound in births, Alicante’s demographic future, like much of Spain’s, will depend less on natural growth and more on migration and longer life expectancy.
